A Child's Attention Span

He pounded down the hallway straight to the toy shelves we keep in the front room. Hands grab at the nearest container and everything is dumped out on the floor. The truck was pushed around briefly and then thrown onto the pillow nearby. My 3 year old then proceeded to dump the rest of the neatly organized activities I had set out the night before. While I know all this dumping and tossing is a part of the learning and exploration; It does not erase the fact that it irritates me. IT IRRITATES ME ALOT!!! At times it has made me want to just give up on planning activities all together! However, in those moments when I see focused exploration and long attentions spans, I know my efforts are well worth it. 

In my experience as an Early Childhood Specialist and now a Mom to four I have some fabulous ideas to support focused play. At some point in my education journey I learned that a child's attention span is typically their age plus or minus a minute. That attention span changes drastically in activities they're interested in. Here are ideas I practice to support focus beyond this "typical" attention span.

1) Music: playing instrumental quiet music in the background helps set the tone for a slow and quiet engagement.

2) Create Boundaries: Give boundaries in the activity to support focus. For example if I give my 3 yr. old a large bin of Legos on the floor he will dump the container and just push the pieces all over the floor. However, if I give him only 20 lego pieces in a small container and a building mat at the kitchen counter he builds for over 20 minutes. Other activities that are only done at the counter: drawing, exploring loose parts, magnet play, etc.

3) Start Small: Introduce one element at a time in each activity to avoid the child being overwhelmed with too much novelty. If their is too much "newness" the child can become overstimulated. This can be communicated through throwing, dumping, fighting, etc. An example for starting small: if its the first time painting: just give paint and paper (no paint brush yet). If you're comfortable, let him explore it on his terms. Allowing a child to spread paint on their hands and arms can be very therapeutic! If the child has sensory issues, you can slide a piece of paper in a large Ziploc bag squirt some paint in and then seal the Ziploc bag. He can push the paint around all over the paper without having to touch it.

4) Real Life: Our kids want to be where we are and do what we're doing.  When I sit down next to my large pile of clean clothes, my toddlers are right there saying, "I help too." So, plan your child's activities based on what they see you doing. Here are some examples of activities that represent real life:
- washing baby dolls or toys in a bin of soapy water, exploring large nuts and bolts, folding a small basket of wash cloths, sweeping the floor, scooping rice with measuring cups and 
teaspoons, etc.   

5) Limit Toys: When there are too many choices, my children have a hard time focusing, deciding and sharing (to name a few). Less toys equals less to dump out and less to clean up at any given time. I have always rotated our toys depending on their interests and abilities. See Toy Rotation for more ideas about that.

6) Engage: Sometimes children misbehave because they just don't know. They need to be shown how to explore this new toy or engage in this new activity. When an adult or older peer/sibling participates side by side with them; it not only increase how long they'll stick with the activity but also what they learn from it!

Even with all these ideas, my children still tip over my well organized activities (just not as often). So, the next time you feel irritated when your child dumps a container of toys, maybe join in on the fun and just dump and run with him. I think it might be liberating and bring some great laughs. May you have fun exploring a long side your little ones, support their play and learn how to slow down just a little bit more each day.   

Note: 1) Short attention spans are normal for young children. So, if these ideas are unsuccessful, take breaks and try again later. Every child is different! 2) Boredom is good! It's ok if your child is walking circles around the room being indecisive! There are great benefits to NOT being entertained all the time! 

Related Topics:
School Readiness
Infant and Toddler Curriculum