Our children are true wonders – they grow and learn quickly. In fact, they do this continuously because they experience so many new things every day. New impressions, exciting new stories that they want to share faster than their mouths will allow and so many ideas buzzing around in their heads. At the same time, however, the overabundance of stimuli quickly leads to our children concentrating less well. This makes the topic of “promoting children’s concentration” all the more important. Being able to concentrate well is an essential skill in our fast-paced world. It can be important for happiness and success both as a child and later in adult life. In this article, I share some tips and give advice on how to improve concentration in children through the environment and small adjustments.
Nutrition and environment
Balanced diet: An important factor in promoting concentration in children is a healthy and balanced diet. A diet rich in vegetables, fruit and wholegrain products has a positive effect on children’s performance at school. This is mainly because it provides important vitamins and minerals, such as calcium and B vitamins. These nutrients have a positive effect on brain function. Be careful to avoid sugary and caffeinated foods as they can have a negative effect on your child’s attention. They can lead to a sudden rise in blood sugar levels and thus increase both concentration difficulties and irritability.
Do your children have a fixed learning environment? Children need a fixed place with which they associate concentration and learning. “This is my desk for homework and I know that this is where I study” – This helps the child to return to a state of concentration more quickly. Children need a quiet space to focus on their tasks.
Movement and distraction
Sport and regular exercise: Studies show that physical exertion helps to physically exhaust children and thus increase concentration. We often find that children are fidgety and hectic and one of the most common causes of this is a lack of exercise. It helps to keep the body and mind in harmony and has positive effects on memory. Even short sports breaks in everyday life can help children to concentrate. For example, plan half an hour for daily sporting activities – outdoor sports such as soccer, basketball or table tennis are particularly suitable for this.
Smartphone, TV and social media: The constant stimulation provided by the smartphone and social media apps, such as TikTok, lead to sensory overload for children. New social media provide short-format videos, which are provided in abundance in the continuous feed. They are just a swipe away and shorten children’s attention spans. If used excessively, they can make a habit of reducing physical activity and can have a negative impact on mental health and should therefore be limited to a healthy level.
Relaxation and fine motor tasks
Meditation and relaxation: The art of meditation has many benefits for children, including improving concentration and increasing stress resistance. Show your children how a short meditation during a break or as a ritual in their daily routine can be used to focus their thoughts and improve their emotional well-being.
Studies show that regular meditation can help children to reduce impulsive behavior and increase their ability to concentrate. This is because meditation stimulates the development of the prefrontal cortex of our brain. This is responsible for executive functions such as working memory and attention. In addition, regular meditation can help to reduce stress and anxiety and thus cope better with the pressure at school.
Relaxation and concentration through coloring pictures: Simple fine motor tasks help children to concentrate on one thing for longer. And if these tasks are also fun, it doesn’t even feel like work. Children love to color, like to get creative with their choice of colors and are really impressed by their favorite motifs. Do your children like unicorns or dinosaurs? Take a look at our collection and find the right picture. You can download and print out all the pictures on our site completely free of charge. Coloring pictures is an effective way to increase attention, reduce stress and increase concentration (not just for children, by the way!).
Schedule times sensibly
Set goals: Think about how you can motivate your children and make it fun for them to achieve their goals. Simple reward systems that reward successful and concentrated work are suitable for this. Give free rein to creativity: What would your children particularly look forward to? An outing or perhaps a toy? With a clear goal in mind, you create an incentive and the desire to take on a challenging task. Tip: Divide up the big plan and create lots of small intermediate goals. This increases your motivation to stay on the ball and makes the success of the process more tangible. Smaller tasks are easier to manage and make it easier to take meaningful breaks and thus encourage the children to concentrate.
Breaks: It’s perfectly okay to need a break from time to time. And our children should understand this too, because breaks help us to keep our focus and concentrate. Children can take short breaks to relieve the strain on their eyes and refresh their minds. According to Dr. Anke Hanssen-Doose, short breaks for movement (clapping, dancing, singing) have been proven to increase concentration. Make sure that the breaks are not too long so that resuming tasks does not become a hurdle.
What helps your little ones to focus on a work task? Feel free to write your tips in the comments!
