How to enhance LO's attention span?

[LaughOutLoud]

I thought this just happens as they grow but then I read you have to 'encourage' them. So how do you encourage their concentration/attention span?

 

[OmarsMum]

Repeat, repeat & repeat

When Omar was tiny I used to read the same book several times, sing the same rhyme, & when he started to watch TV (Mickey club house) at 15 month I started to record it & play the same episode.

His concentration is great since he was a baby, but I noticed he learned how to concentrate more by repeating the same stuff over & over

 

[LaughOutLoud]

Thanks hun. Yeh, the only time she manages to sit still is with a good book or the telly but then is off again!

 

[smelly07]

Personally i wouldnt encourage it.... i think if something interests children they will spend longer on the activity/listening to a story etc and if it doesnt interest them then they will wonder off, act up or stare in to space LOL. i think its something that comes with time.......even as an adult in meetings if what ever is being said doesnt interest me i find my mind wondering about whats for dinnner ha ha ha ....

 

[OmarsMum]

Omar loves it when I make up stories, he's always the hero. He concentrates a lot when I talk & now he can complete some sentences & songs from the stories.

As for counting, I used to count while massaging him when he was a baby, one day at 13 months he started to count with me. We count steps, cars in the streets, fingers, toes, etc.

When I offer him food I name it, like this is pasta with meat balls, today we're having chicken with rice, etc. Now he knows the name of almost all dishes, fruits & veggies.

When I give him a bath, when I wash his hair, I show him the shampoo & name it, the same with sponge & soap.

 

[hattiehippo]

I think like everything all children are different, all have different attention spans and their concentration will develop as they grow and things grab their attention.

You could try repeating favourite books, stories, programmes etc as children learn through repetition. I would personally avoid too much TV as there is research that indicates that the fast moving images teach the brain to expect the constnat stimulation and doesn't encoruage active listening or the ability to maintain attention except for at the TV. With Tom I don't often leave him alone with the TV on and try to watch it with him and chat about what's happening.

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

Personally i wouldnt encourage it.... i think if something interests children they will spend longer on the activity/listening to a story etc and if it doesnt interest them then they will wonder off, act up or stare in to space LOL. i think its something that comes with time.......even as an adult in meetings if what ever is being said doesnt interest me i find my mind wondering about whats for dinnner ha ha ha ....

I agree and I am exactly the same. I can sit through a long meeting and realise at the end of it I couldn't even tell you one thing that was said
Whereas when something interests me, I know everything about it very quickly! My OH is just the same too.

Also... with their attention spans, it's developmental, it's a bit like trying to encourage them to walk before they have the balance or strength in their legs. Pointless.

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

Omar loves it when I make up stories, he's always the hero. He concentrates a lot when I talk & now he can complete some sentences & songs from the stories.

As for counting, I used to count while massaging him when he was a baby, one day at 13 months he started to count with me. We count steps, cars in the streets, fingers, toes, etc.

When I offer him food I name it, like this is pasta with meat balls, today we're having chicken with rice, etc. Now he knows the name of almost all dishes, fruits & veggies.

When I give him a bath, when I wash his hair, I show him the shampoo & name it, the same with sponge & soap.

These are all the kinds of things we've always done too, but I never did them to encourage her attention span.

 

[claire23]

Sophie has great concentartion, she would sit until she finishes a task (puzzle or reading a book or a shape-sorter, or sorting colours, anything really), she would not accept any help from me (unless to show her for the first time), in fact she would protest if I try to intervene, so if something is challenging she will sit there for ages until she gets it right. Saying that, I never did anything to encourage her attention span. I think it depends on the child and also time, everyone develops at own pace. I also believe that having few toys is better than having a lot of them. We mainly have developmental toys, none of the musical toys, only 2 dolls and a teddy, a few books which we rotate every week and some other bits and pieces. She always finds something interesting in the house, and because we have so few toys, she plays with one of them for a while, and this also encourages her imagination.

 

[Septie]

I really think it depends on the child's personality. DS1 has always had an amazing attention span (we wouldn't have realized that if other people hadn't pointed it out) - but we haven't really done anything to encourage it. And he does watch TV, and always has. He does have relatively few toys compared to others on bnb, not sure if that has helped. At any rate, attention span should naturally increase with age - and tends to be surprisingly short on average for toddlers (I looked it up when others noted our LO's long attention span - around 25 mins at 1 year old, which I thought at the time was normal; now at barely 2 he can easily spend 45 mins in a row doing a puzzle; he spent hours and hours a day for a couple of weeks learning the alphabet a few months ago; but this is not normal). Google it

 

[OmarsMum]

Thanks Septie for the info, will google it. Omar solves puzzles & quizzes on the iPad & he can spend hours without getting bored. He's already learning phonics using the iPad. I download the apps but I don't sit & teach him what to do. He learned the alphabet from TV & his floor mat (upper & lower case)

I will google it, people always comment about his concentration, I never thought about it before reading your post.

 

[OmarsMum]

These are all the kinds of things we've always done too, but I never did them to encourage her attention span.

I also dont do it to encourage his attention span, I never thought about attention span before reading this thread. His memory is amazing since he was tiny.