As a teacher or parent, you would’ve noticed that children often struggle to stay focused, even when they’ve understood what they need to do. While this would’ve made you wonder why their attention seems to drift so quickly from the task at hand, understanding the reasons behind this can help you better support the child’s learning journey.
Young children have shorter attention spans primarily because their brains are still developing, especially the area that deals with their working memory. While it may seem like they are distracted or unfocused, it’s just that there’s a lot going on in their minds, which explains this behaviour.
Let’s have a look into why children have short attention spans and offer practical ways to help them improve.
Why Do Children Over-Explore?
One of the main reasons children struggle with focus is that they like to explore information. Additional information to be specific, even when it’s not needed.
A study by Ohio State University found that unlike adults, when children are given a task, they tend to “over-explore” rather than efficiently focus on the relevant information that’s already been explored by them and available on hand.
In another study where children aged 4, 5, and 6 had to identify a creature based on one body part, they often looked at other body parts, even though they knew which one would give them the answer.
This wasn’t because they didn’t understand the task but rather because their developing brains compelled them to seek more information than needed. It was just the child’s curiosity at play.
Working Memory: The Key to Focus
So why do children engage in this over-exploration? The likely explanation lies in their working memory, which is still growing and undergoing the process of maturing.
Working memory allows us to hold and use information briefly to complete a task. For us adults, it’s easier to focus on the right detail and move forward, whereas children often feel unsure if they remember the correct piece of information.
To resolve this uncertainty, they keep checking and rechecking details, which, from an adult’s perspective, makes it seem like they are easily distracted and restless. As they grow, their working memory strengthens, and they start to behave more like adults in how they process and filter information.
How to Support Attention Development?
It’s important to remember that short attention spans in children are normal and improve with age. There’s absolutely no need to label their behaviour and give it a fancy acronym. However, you can help them develop better focus. Here are three ways to do it, with an example:
Keep Tasks Simple
Since children often get overwhelmed when a task is too complex, break tasks into smaller, manageable parts.
Example: If a child is learning to draw a house, instead of asking them to draw the entire house at once, guide them step by step.
You could say: “First, draw a square for the main part of the house.”
Once done, you could say: “Now, add a triangle on top for the roof.”
Adopting this approach allows them to focus on one task at a time, therefore improving their attention on the task.
Encourage Exploration – With Guidance
Since children naturally like to explore, it’s essential not to discourage this behaviour entirely. However, you can guide them toward the main goal.
If a child is reading a story but keeps getting distracted by the pictures, encourage them to finish reading a section first before exploring the images. This way, their curiosity is satisfied without losing focus on the primary task.
Be Patient and Allow for Breaks
This can’t be emphasized enough: Children need time for their working memory to fully develop, so patience is key. As parents, teachers and caregivers, patience is a critical attribute to develop, as the child can benefit the most from it.
It may not be easy, but it’s definitely not impossible. Only then would we be aware that their lack of focus isn’t because they are not trying. Offering short breaks during activities can help reset their attention.
For example, after every 30 minutes of studying, allow them a five-minute break to stretch or grab a healthy snack before returning to the task. This helps them feel less overwhelmed and be more ready to refocus.
Conclusion
Understanding why children have short attention spans is crucial for both parents and teachers. The reason why children are distracted is often due to their developing working memory and natural curiosity, which causes them to gather more information than they need.
By being patient, and using simple strategies such as breaking tasks into smaller steps, encouraging guided exploration, and giving them short breaks both during and in between tasks, you can help children build the skills they need to focus better over time.
Adopting these approaches will not only help their attention spans, it will also help them improve their cognitive abilities as they grow – naturally.