Concentration Curriculum Research

7 In-Class Activities to Improve Concentration in Children

November 20, 2017, by Teach.com

Today, the attention spans of students are decreasing due to the amount of time they spend
online or using a technology device like a tablet or a smartphone. The culprit is not the device
itself, rather what kids learn from using this device. One lesson is that if the game or reading
does not pull them in from the first couple of seconds, they doze or easily click or swipe away
from the "boring" activity and choose something else. These games or activities that are
designed to engage kids' minds from the get-go don't do it for the same purpose that teachers
plan lessons for. Many of these digital activities don't care about the child's well-being or
teaching them anything. Brands are developing more and more apps to entertain kids.

The solution: try to provide attention and concentration in-class activities that do not require
screen time. Let's look at some things that teachers can do in the classroom and what activities
to improve concentration they can easily merge into their daily routine.

1. Building Activities
One of the popular concentration activities for kids includes building. This is a broad topic that
you can customize for your classroom and unique student needs. It helps improve attention
span and concentration to give children a goal and building materials. For example, pass out
playing cards and ask the kids to see which team can build a higher house of cards before it falls.
Younger kids can use blocks of different shapes and colours to work individually. You can assign
a group project for building models of skyscrapers using foam pieces, glue, paint, and markers.

2. Memory Games
Memory games are some of the most popular concentration activities for students. Choose a
memory game that uses 3-D shapes not just picture cards to appeal to all learning styles. If you
can't find a game with 3-D shapes then cards with vibrant images work great also.

3. Puzzle Games
puzzles are great External link for your children’s mind and cognitive development. To be more
precise, puzzles provide that key opportunity for a child to develop fine motor skills, improve
hand-eye coordination, think in a logical way to solve a problem, improve memory and improve
their concentration and attention span.
There is a wide range of puzzle games for kids. You just need to choose the suitable one for your
target group. External link Below are some of the puzzle games you can use in the classroom,
and the reason why these will make good puzzle games for your students:

The Snake Cube: The snake cube looks like a Rubik's cube in its completed form. But, the object
is to stretch it out into a snake pattern and try to put it together again. This single-material
classroom activity is great for kids who prefer to work individually as well as kinesthetic learners
those who prefer doing things by hand love the serpent cube solution. You will find that
kinesthetic learners may not be the top academic achievers in your class or those who exhibit
the greater number of behavioral incidents, but give them something material to do and that
makes them feel a sense of accomplishment and watch them stay focused on in class activities
more with a heighten sense of "I can do it".
Rubik Cube: Like the wooden snake cube puzzle, the Rubik's cube for kids is a concentration
activity that has been around for years. Puzzle You can find Rubik cubes in various sizes, the
squares become larger as the level of ease increases making it easy to find one for your class.
These are relatively inexpensive items and you can easily fill a medium-sized tube with a variety
of the cube puzzles for different ability levels, like including a couple of regular Rubik's cubes for
gifted kids.
4. Timed Activities
Timed games and classwork are not only versatile activities to improve concentration in children
, but are very appealing to students because they want to win and beat the timer. Give each
student a whiteboard and marker then pick out a master word from a hat, put 1 minute on the
clock and have students write down as many words as they can from the letters of the master
word. If your classroom is set up in stations, you can put all the items for the activity in a small
basket with a toy hourglass for kids to play individually, in partners or teams.

5. Sequencing Activities
There is a positive correlation between sequencing ability and focus levels in students making
them the perfect activities to improve attention and concentration in children. Teachers can
administer worksheets, materials or plan class discussions on story sequencing. Younger kids
can put vibrant pictures in order for sequences of the days of the week, seasons of the year,
daily routine or even their own classroom routine.

6. Cooking Activities
Great in-class activities that help children focus longer are following recipes External link ,
baking or decorating sugar cookies. If appropriate for your children's ages and ability levels
consider giving small groups simple recipes to follow. Younger kids can decorate sugar cookies
External link for a specific holiday or birthday. Try to give students different ingredients to
measure and mix. They can even make trail mix for the whole class to enjoy at recess!
7. Quiet Time Activities
Much like the rest of us, children need frequent breaks to refresh. These breaks help improve
their levels of concentration and focus. Young children would benefit from a quiet area in their
classroom where they can take naps External link while older students need breaks, nutritious
snacks and meals, and free time. Work in free time to your classroom daily schedule and set up
stations where students, can choose which unwinding activity to do.

Final Words
Help your students counter the negative effects of technology and excessive screen time by
planning more hands-on activities to improve attention and concentration. The best
concentration activities for kids are those that encourage the student to think while doing the
activity.

Activities And Games To Improve Concentration

You may try these activities and concentration games for kids:

1. Puzzles – Picture and words

A puzzle is a fantastic tool for improving concentration.

Picture Puzzle
You will need:

A picture puzzle board game

How to play:

● Give your child pieces of picture puzzles

● Ask them to sort out pieces to complete the picture
● They have to find what’s missing and then place it in the proper place

Word Puzzle
You will need:

A word puzzle board game

How to play:

● Ask your child to form as many words as they can from the letters in the puzzle
● You may give them hints for each word

Puzzles keep a child engaged for a long time as they get involved in putting the pieces together
or finding the words.

2. Statue:
This game helps the child learn how to stick to the same place and not get bored with it.

You will need:

A music system, or play music on your phone

How to play:

● Play the music

● Ask your kid to dance or play a character
● Stop the music and say “Statue”
● Your child has to hold the exact position they are in
● Freeze them for about 30 seconds and say “Release”
● Once you say “release” they can move and change their posture
● Repeat, but don’t tire your child

[ Read: How To Build Confidence In Kids ]

3. Tongue twisters:
The popular game helps children improve concentration as well as pronunciation skills. It
stimulates their hearing memory while entertaining them.

You will need:

A piece of paper, or a blackboard

How to play:

● Write some tongue twisters on the blackboard or a piece of paper

 ● Give it to your child and ask them to read it aloud
● Then let them read it faster and faster
● As they go faster, they will falter
● The game is to see how long they can say it right
● Go ahead and say it together, this will make you laugh together with your kid
● Ask your child to come up with their own tongue twisters
● Here are a few tongue twisters— ‘She sells sea shells on the sea shore’, ‘A proper
copper coffee pot’, ‘Red lorry, yellow lorry, red lorry, yellow lorry’

4. Missing numbers:
It enhances concentration and numerical ability.

How to play:

● Start counting numbers in a sequence and miss out one purposefully

● Ask your child to shout out and tell you what you missed
● Let’s say, “8, 9, 10, 12”. In this case, your child should shout “11”
● Increase the level of difficulty slowly

5. Beat the clock:

Children are generally competitive by nature and love winning. This game increases their
bandwidth to perform well and concentrate.

You will need:

● A stopwatch
● Things like toys, shoes, books, school bag, etc. It depends on the activity you
choose.

How to play:

● Give any easy activity like putting their toys back into the box, keeping shoes in the
right place, arranging books in the school bag
● Set up a timer — be realistic with that
● Ask them to finish the task before the time runs out
 ● This will make them work with improved attention.

6. Just a minute
Never undervalue the importance of small activities or games. Lots can be done in a minute,
and that’s what you want to teach your child.

You will need:

A watch

How to play:

● Scatter around 20 balls in the room

● Let your child pick up as many balls as they can in a minute.
● Start the timer and stop it after a minute
● Let your kid count how many they have collected

“How many words can you write in a minute?” “How many things can you put back in their
place?” are different ways of playing the game. You can come up with new ideas for playing
one-minute.

7. Dot puzzles and mazes

Dot puzzles and mazes are so much fun that your child can do them for hours.

You will need:

A dot puzzle board. Alternatively, print a free dot puzzle from the internet

How to play:

● Give your child a dot picture and ask them to join the dots
● Let them use their imagination to connect the dots
● The game ends when they finish the dots and make the picture complete

8. Three cups
This game makes the child focus on the cups as you manipulate them.

You will need:

● Three cups
● One coin

How to play:

● Place the three cups upside-down

● Place a coin under one cup while your child watches
● Rapidly switch the cups and ask your child to tell under which cup the coin is.

[ Read: How To Teach Life Skills For Kids ]

9. What did I change?

It’s a great visual and concentration boosting game for kids.

You will need:

A tie, your earrings or anything else

How to play:

● Begin with yourself. Let your child take a look at you, and then ask them to close
their eyes.
● Untie your tie, take off an earring, tie your hair or take off a shoe.
● Your child will then open their eyes and find out what you have changed.

10. Pattern and routine instructions

Routines can also be fun when played with a pattern.

How to play:

● Make a pattern with instructions.

● “Spread the butter on the toast first, then put the lettuce and sausages, then fold
the bread” or
 ● “Put your books into the bag first, then keep your shoes away and finally wash your
hands.”
● If you have more than one kid at home, you can make them compete on who does
it right at the shortest possible time

Children are super energetic, curious and exuberant. Hence making them sit down and do a task
without distraction, can be quite a task.

But lack of concentration can cause problems at school as well as in later life. Simple activities
and your constant motivation can help your child improve their attention

No activities but general guidelines

https://iraparenting.com/child-development/how-to-improve-the-concentration-in-kids-tips/

Printable worksheets on Pinterest

https://in.pinterest.com/kids0150/attention-concentration-worksheets/

Mind Chi exercise

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8C5Yo1gnB8

BOARD GAMES

Any board game or card game that requires taking turns also requires impulse-control. Your
child has to wait for you to take a turn, move your player and for it to be his turn again.
Depending on the game, there may be times that your child has to wait his turn for longer than
normal (such as that you receive a “spin again” direction, or your child is instructed to “lose a
turn.”)

While playing games together, refrain from controlling the spinner or the cards that direct the
players’ turns; this is part of the impulse-control process. You may be tempted to do so because
your child’s impulse-control makes it challenging for him to wait his turn, but taking this
temptation away from him only makes his struggle more difficult.

If your child struggles and spins out of turn or tries to draw cards in advance for everyone
playing the game, simply ask the child to return the card to the pile and start from there (or ask
the child to wait his turn). This draws attention to the impulse-control concern and reminds
your child that while the game is fun, there are still rules to be followed.
(If you lose your cool on this, as I’ve done before, don’t beat yourself up about it. Just move on
and try again another time!)

RED LIGHT, GREEN LIGHT

In this game, children are required to hear the direction that is given to them (i.e. red light
means to stop and green light means to go) and then direct their body to respond to the
command. While the child may not want to stop, hearing a red light direction requires the
impulse-control to jump into effect.

This activity is great for helping kids to think first and act second (and for making sure that their
thoughts and actions match up!).

WHAT TIME IS IT, MR. SHARK?

Again, in this game, children are required to hear the direction that is given to them and then
direct their body to respond only to the direction (despite their desires to hang back or move
forward, depending upon their goal in the game). Impulse-control can be a challenge in this
game because their desire may be to stay back so as not to get caught by Mr. Shark (or to take
huge steps in hopes of getting caught and becoming Mr. Shark as some kids do!)

As you play the game, be prepared to talk with your child if you see him struggling to control his
initial impulses. For example, if you see your child starting to run backwards each time Mr. Shark
answers, his initial impulse to run from Mr. Shark (albeit evolutionary and appropriate) is
overriding his cognitive brain that knows he is only to run backward if Mr. Shark says “Lunch
time!” Remind him to play by the rules by saying something like, “Jack, I saw you start to run
backwards when Mr. Shark said 3 o’clock. Remember, you can only run backwards when he says
‘Lunch time!’ so let’s come back here and try that again.

(The directions to this game suggest playing it in a pool, but this game is easily played out of the
water as well.)

MUSICAL CHAIRS

In this game, there are no formal “directions” given to your child, but your child is asked to use
his brain to respond to the stopping of the sound/music and to then direct his body to find an
open seat. Kids with impulse-control struggles may sit down during the game even though the
music is still playing, or even keep walking after the music has stopped because the body hasn’t
responded to the “direction” quite yet.

This is a great activity for younger kids because they can make the association to the starting
and stopping of the music even if they aren’t great talkers; just make sure to show the younger
ones how to play the game first by demonstrating and they’ll pick it up quite quickly.

Just like with the other impulse-control games, your role is very important. If you notice
impulse-control is lacking in the game, gently and kindly point it out and start over again so that
it’s fair for everyone and he learns that impulse-control is necessary, even when he doesn’t like
the outcome.

HAND-EYE COORDINATION GAMES

I have saved the best activities for last!

Activities in this category help train your child’s brain to stop focusing on anything else but the
task at hand. They help to improve your child’s mental timing (i.e. speed up your child’s ability
to process and respond to a command) and over time, you’ll see a difference in your child’s
attention-span.

These activities are a must for any child who seems a little behind with their ability to focus
attention as well as for those who have a clinical diagnosis of ADHD. Whether it’s a small
concern with attention (child gets distracted when asked to put something away) or a larger
concern (child cannot eat at a restaurant because the distraction around him captures all of his
attention), these activities should help.

I will identify a few activities to use here, but please note that any activities that require
hand-eye (or foot-eye) coordination can be helpful for a child with a poor attention span.

In addition, I encourage you to use an activity from this category prior to an important event in
which you need your child to pay attention, as these activities tend to help the brain sustain
attention for longer than the activity lasts (i.e. if he’s going to sing in the church choir in 20
minutes, warm up with some hand-eye coordination activities right before he takes the stage
and his attention will be glued on his teacher!)

METRONOME MATCHER
In this activity, all you need is a tennis ball and a metronome. For those of you who don’t know
what a metronome is (don’t worry, I didn’t really know what it was either until I learned about
this activity), this is the tool that is used to keep time in music to ensure that the beat stays in
time.

While most of you won’t have a metronome at home, you can all easily find one for free in the
App store.

For this activity, simply set the metronome to a reasonable pace and ask your child to try to
match the bouncing of the ball to the click of the metronome. I encourage you to try it yourself
too! Making it a competition may make it more fun and help it to last longer!

PLAYING CATCH

Did you ever imagine that something as simple as playing catch could help your child to sustain
his attention in other aspects of life, such as listening to a story or following instructions at
preschool?

Playing catch regularly with your child can not only improve his gross and fine motor
development and his hand-eye coordination, but you will also see improvements in his
attention span.

BAT & BALL

I have to admit that when I first started researching the impact of these hand-eye coordination
activities on attention span, I was sceptical. However, as soon as I started using an activity that
required hand-eye coordination with a preschooler in my office, I no longer needed any
convincing!

Bat & Ball was that activity!

This activity isn’t anything fancy. We simply found something in my office that worked as a bat
(in our case, a table-top punching bag, but you can find something else that works without
buying anything new) and tried to hit a ball with the bat as many times as we could.

The child really struggled with coordination, so the activity was almost painful as the adult in
the beginning. But over time, the child started developing the skill to hit the ball with the bat. At
that point, I upped the challenge to see if the child could hit the ball and hit it towards me so
that I could catch it. We kept increasing the challenge, including attempts at hitting and catching
the ball to focus on that hand-eye coordination.

After two sessions of this, the child’s coordination was much improved. I was impressed to see
the change from just one session to the next. But the most important thing was the change in
attention span! Attention span was much improved, not just in my office, but at home and
daycare too.