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Most younger children are naturally wiggly and tend to shift their attention a lot. If you would like your little student to be able to focus on homework for a little longer, you can help build the attention span by giving your child a quick, stimulating spin on the study chair. Curious to know more? Read the full article.

Highlights:

You can help your child focus by:
Realising why it’s so hard for many children to sit still and focus for long.
Making sure your child eats and sleeps as well as possible.
Encouraging your child to be physically active every day – even just for a few minutes.
Introducing two super simple activities that can help improve concentration.

Why Focusing Can be Hard for Your Child

Many children seem to be constantly squirming around or fiddling with things instead of paying attention in school or focusing on their homework. Unfortunately, this can hinder their ability to learn and affect their confidence.

Sensorimotor Consultant, Mette Drescher Jensen, explains:

“There is always a reason why children are restless and have difficulty concentrating, and it’s rare that parenting, too much sugar and too little sleep are the only reasons why. A restless child is often a child who is out of balance due to something physical, something emotional or something in their environment like a classroom with too much noise.
A lot of children know how to behave and what to do. When they are told to sit quietly on the chair, they hear it and they understand it, they just can’t do it. This can easily affect their self-esteem, and we don’t want that to happen.”

What Can You Do?

It’s important that your child eats and sleeps well to be able to concentrate and stay focused during the day, but according to Mette Drescher Jensen it sometimes takes more than that:

“If your child eats and sleeps well but is still having a hard time concentrating in school or doing homework, your child could probably benefit from some simple sensory motor activities that can help improve their focus. It might also be helpful to get a little more physical activity into your everyday life. Fortunately, this is something that can easily be trained at home, and there’s a good chance you’ll both be having fun doing it.”

As a parent you can’t do much about noise in the classroom or other things in school that can make it hard for your child to concentrate. But luckily, there are many things you can do at home to help your child focus, and you get to spend some quality time together at the same time. Other than encouraging your child to be physically active, you can also work on improving your child’s sensory motor skills by introducing these two activities that can make it easier to focus for longer.

Girl is sitting on the Dots stool from FLEXA

2 Easy Activities that Improve Concentration

Mette Drescher Jensen recommends these two fun sensory motor activities you and your child can do together. They are super simple and easy to fit into your daily routine, but they can make a big difference for your child.

1. A Fun Chair Spin

“Spinning around on a desk chair trains your child's vestibular sense, also known as the movement, gravity and balance sense. Spinning around increases brain alertness and concentration, but don’t spin too fast – it’s important that your child doesn’t get dizzy but has fun with it. This activity is so simple, but so good. It will make it easier for your child to focus right away, but also in the long run.”

2. A Good Body Rub

”When you are rubbing, massaging, and holding your child, your child’s body will wake up. It’s important that it feels nice and doesn’t tickle. The physical contact releases dopamine which will help you bond and make both you and your child feel great. It’s a really good way to create some well-being, but also increase concentration and readiness.”

So, enjoy some quality time with your child, and hopefully your relationship and your child’s attention skills will only grow stronger.