Teaching children to focus

Learning to focus and pay attention is a skill like any other. Some children are good at it, some need help. Remember, it can be difficult to focus and pay attention for adults, so it is doubly hard for children when there is so much going on around them.

Children are constantly doing something so we need to help them develop the skill of focusing and paying attention to one thing, they need to practice just being and observing.

How do we help our children develop the ability to just be, listen to the silence, and relax?

The best way is to create a "sit spot" for your child. A "sit spot" is a spot at home, inside or outside, where they can sit and observe the world around them. Give them a journal and pencils. Their task would be to sit and look around and draw pictures of what they see or think about. Older kids can also write about things they see, hear, or think about.

Initially, you can do it together so that you can model what is required. Sit with them and say “Let's be quiet for a bit. What can you hear? What can you see?....” and go through all the senses.

Then explain that when we're always so busy doing something or talking, we miss what is happening around us. That it is good to just “be” sometimes and focus on things that when we rush, we might miss.

Another thing you can try is to sit together facing away from each other. Or get siblings to sit together facing away. When time is up they can turn and face each other to share drawings or writings.

This can be an activity they do when they get home from school to ground them and shake off the day at school. It can be an opportunity for your child to let you know what they thought about the school day and to see if any issues come up that need dealing with.

As your child practices sitting on their sit spot, they will get better at paying attention and focusing. Once this skill improves, you can give it a name such as “focus time” or “attention activity” and then teach them to use that skill without drawing. They can practice this when they are in the car, at school, at grandma’s house, at church or just when you see them needing down time.

If you feel like your child is really struggling with focus, then feel free to contact us for help to work out if something deeper is going on that needs attention.

Karen Rushbrook