The best ways to stimulate your child’s concentration

Ask any teacher and they’ll tell you that the ability to focus on a task is a very important aspect of learning. Yet, concentration often poses a challenge for young children. Here’s how you, as a parent, can help develop your child’s concentration, without them even realising they’re doing a little work on their side.

Get creative

Tasks that require ongoing effort provide an opportunity to improve concentration. Ensure that the project allows self-expression and revolves around your child’s area of interest – beadwork or sculpting his favourite animal, for example.

Reading, audio stories, & nursery rhymes

Arrange a quiet place for your child to listen to the recording and make sure he’s comfortable. Encourage him to listen carefully to the rhyme and story. Stop the recording and ask him to tell you what he heard. Once he successfully masters a certain length of the story three times, add another minute before you ask him to recall.

Let them help with care tasks

Introduce a pet that your child can wash and brush regularly or let him help you was your car. This act of caring for something engages his concentration in a fun way.

Get them moving

Games and play pump oxygen to your child’s brain, which boosts concentration. Jumping, hanging and stretching activities help your child’s body to gain the muscle tone it needs to keep an upright posture. You’ll notice less slouching at the desk. The brain is at its most alert when the body is upright.

6 Diet tips to boost concentration

1. Avoid processed foods with additives: biscuits, soft drinks, breakfast cereals. Avoid foods with labels that list glucose, maltose, dextrose, sucrose, inverted sugar syrup, and ‘E’ numbers.
2. Ensure your little one eats fresh fruit and vegetables daily.
3. Be creative and make eating fun. Fashion fruit caterpillars out of bite-size pieces to entice him to finish his meal. Toddlers also love to dip cucumber, carrot, and celery sticks into yoghurt.
4. Add enough fibre to your tot’s meals to encourage good digestion.
5. Essential fats are important in your child’s diet. Sardines, salmon, and fresh tuna are excellent ‘brain food’.
6. Eliminate common allergens from the diet, such as wheat, gluten, dairy, eggs, and soya. If you suspect your child is reacting badly to a particular food, remove it from his diet for two weeks and note any changes.