A Learning Environment for Your Big Energy, Short Attention Span Child
It’s real, your fun-loving, can’t stop moving, interested in everything, and easily distracted child is home all day. Your child may have the best of intentions, yet just can’t get himself to do something he doesn’t want to do.
You may be able to relate or you may not get it at all and see the behavior as defiance. It’s likely not, not at its core.
Now your child is home. All the time. How do you focus this energy into skill-building at the same time as providing the household with a moment of reprieve?
Consider natural inclinations or interests.
- Is he fascinated by the world of nature?
- Does he love to take things apart? Or fix things?
- Does he love to perform in front of others?
- Does he like to play games?
- Does he enjoy the artistic process?
- Does he like to build?
- Does he just need to move his body in a big way?
Stations
Teachers use stations in classrooms all the time. With your child’s input, pick 3-4 activities and create stations. Stations allow your child to move and focus for short time spans. As in the classroom, at least one of the stations should be for direct interaction with you or another adult. The direct interaction could be reading a book, playing a game, watching a performance, or getting direct instruction on school work.
A timer is key for defining the time and space for each station. A setting of 15-20 minutes is a good amount of time and could be shorter or longer depending on age and attention-span. The timer is set at each station and once it goes off your child moves to the next station.
Station Ideas
Building – cardboard boxes, recycling (egg crates, toilet paper rolls, cereal boxes, etc.), duct or packing tape, scissors, whatever you have on hand for creating sculptures or any number of costumes or accoutrements. Or go big with building a fort out of chairs, blankets, pillows, or large pieces of cardboard.
Art – paper, markers, watercolors, pastels, acrylic paints (weigh the risks). Collage materials such as old magazines, junk mail, scissors, and glue stick. Even a camera at this station for a child interested in photography and video.
Engineering – any old electronics (no microwaves or other potentially hazardous materials) and a phillips head screwdriver for taking apart. Any old toys that need fixing. Legos, wooden blocks, Knex, or any number of manipulatives for building would also fall into this station.
Nature – plant seeds, press flowers, read books about the natural world, walk around the neighborhood with you noting the flowers, trees, insect trails, spiderwebs, and animal tracks.
Games – Board games such as chess, checkers, Battleship, MasterMind, Connect 4, and Othello can be played with 2 people in fairly short time spans. If he really needs to move his body, set up an obstacle course inside or if you have outside space available.
Tactile – playdough, perler beads (found at Michaels), water table, bin of sand with sand toys.
Stage – area set aside for performing, such as telling jokes, singing, playing an instrument, putting on an act, etc. Siblings can work together on this, be each other’s audience, or you can be the audience.
Reading/Writing– picture books to chapter books to choose from, depending on age and reading level. Or rite in a journal, write a short story, create a comic strip, or write a play.
School work – whether the teacher is asking for online work or has sent a packet, this allows a defined amount of time to focus. It’s possible to use this station as the center of a hub of stations. Spend 15 minutes on completing school assignments, go to another station for 15, back to the school work station for 15, go to another station for 15, and so on.
Math – manipulatives such as rulers, compass, calculator, tangrams, scale, coins, beans, graph paper, pencil, etc. Lay out a task such as measuring the room or the sofa, counting out different amounts with the coins or beans, creating a design with the compass, adding up a list of numbers with the calculator (or print out a free math worksheet), or weighing various items from around the house. The ideas are endless.
Have another idea for a station? Great! Use it. Change the stations next week, next month, or anytime to keep it fresh. And share with me, please. I’d love to hear what you’ve tried, what worked and didn’t work, and feel free to ask questions. Someone else may be wondering the same thing.