3 Scientifically-Proven Ways to Improve Children's Attention Span

The world is constantly changing with the advancement of technology. Technological advancements produce both positive and negative effects on human lives. The sad part is that digital products like smartphones, do affect children's attention span these days.

It has been observed that children as young as 2 years old behave badly once they are deprived of using a smartphone. For adults, a simple notification from a smartphone could instantly distract them and they lose their focus on a given task.

The few seconds that we use to check our smartphone notifications daily, can easily add up to hours - hours that can be used more productively.

Adults can easily manage their time and tasks - it is easier for them to divide their attention as their brains are fully-developed to handle such distractions.

How about children? They tend to play more mobile games rather than explore the outdoors with their friends. If adults get distracted by a single notification, all the more that they are subjected to various stimuli that could affect their attention span.

What then can we do?

Scientifically-proven methods to improve children's attention span

Discover your child’s learning style

Sometimes, parents think their child is not interested to learn or is not smart enough to grasp the lesson. What many do not know is that each person has different ways of learning. Some learn from visuals, some from reading, some from the application of a lesson, while others learn using a patterned technique like acronyms or memorization.

You have to check and discover your child’s thought process. If they are more comfortable doing homework alone or while they are listening to music, let them. Avoid using a learning style that’s not suitable for your child. This step not only helps improve attention span but also gets children interested in finishing the task.

Limiting your child to quality screen time

Have you ever observed that a child tends to be more stubborn when they have longer screen time? According to Aric Sigman, an associate fellow of the British Psychological Society and a Fellow of Britain’s Royal Society of Medicine, when very small children get hooked on tablets and smartphones, they may unintentionally "hinder their still-developing brains."

Limiting screen time may help increase children's attention span and get them more engaged in physical activities, family time, and study time.

Teaching attention and self-regulation

Explaining what self-regulation is can help children understand the value of having the right amount of attention.

Self-regulation, which includes self-assessment, thinking before the action, initiating a task, and maintaining social appropriateness, helps children resist distractions and focus more on their tasks.

Self-regulation will appear to them like a “challenge”, making it more interesting for children to try out.

Memorie: An app designed for children by neuroscientists

Memorie is an app that gives users instant feedback while doing brain training through engaging games that are designed to exercise various cognitive skills. Apart from helping children improve their memory, it also trains attention span through games such as Psychic Cyclist, Sushi Recall, and Multitask Master.

With these brain stimulation games, challenge your children and test their skills in attention, memory, multi-tasking, spatial and decision making.

After completing each game level, understand their performance through the Neeuro Learning Matrix. It provides a concise analysis of behavioral and mental stages while training the brain with Memorie games.