Attention span
How long is a child supposed to be able to concentrate for? This is an age old question and many parents are wondering about it now because they are the ones monitoring their workload at home.
The answer to this question is dependent on so many factors, such as the age of the child, the child’s personal learning profile (do they have ADHD?) and the activity being done. Some children have an incredible ability to focus for long periods of time - well beyond their age appropriate norms. Others, flit from one thing to the next and seem to be on the go all day. Others still, seem to be able to focus for long periods of time on some activities, but for seconds on others. There is no cookie cutter answer to the question, but below is a gentle guideline to give us a general idea of attention spans by age in children.
Reminder: this is a guide - many children will be able to do more/less than this.
3 year olds
This group of children generally can hold their attention for between 3-8 mins on a task. By the time they are 3.5 years old, this increases to 15 mins and can be held even longer if new options are introduced to maintain their interest.
4 year olds
Four year olds can maintain focus and attention for between 7-15mins on their own but are easily distracted and can become easily engrossed too. They can generally play without any interruption for 5-10mins with others. If asked to do something by an adult/teacher, for instance, they typically last 2-3 mins per task. They can be easily coaxed into longer times than this, especially if it is engaging, fun and with you.
5 year olds
A 5 year old will engage with an assigned task for between 4-6 mins and will engage in something interesting on their own for 10-15 mins. They are less easily distracted than 4 year olds. In a small group, or with a sibling, they can play for up to 25 mins without interruption. Top tip: to double their attention span, do something they love to do.
6 years and up
Some researchers suggest that attention span is ‘calculated’ with an upper limit of 5 mins per year. So for instance, a 6 year old can focus for a max of 30mins. A 7 year old can focus for up to 35 mins. However, this is often determined by the task at hand and is a rough guideline.
Once children start formal schooling, they are expected to concentrate for longer periods of time. This is when teachers and parents begin to really notice difficulties in attention. If you have concerns about your child’s attention and concentration, it is really valuable having an educational assessment done to identify if the difficulty is concentration-based, or something else. For those children who are attending school, here are some ways to develop attention spans are:
Include a multi-modal learning style to make the activity more captivating - include music/movement/sensory components and all 5 senses if possible. Here is my guide on how to do this.
Encourage as much independent play as possible. This develops their capacity. More info on how to do that here. Panda Play Time also offers a brilliant resource on how to develop independent play.
Remove obvious distractions. For example, trying to maintain a child’s attention whilst the TV is on is not particularly effective.
Memory can be exercised, so play games (like Go Fish) that require a child to engage in their memory. Memory is directly related to attention span. Other play-based ways to expand attention is to play games like musical statues (develops self control), baking (develops sequential memory) or doing puzzles.
Rate the work - if your child seems to be avoiding work that requires sustained attention, start a little habit of rating the level of difficulty out of 5. This will help you gain a sense of your child’s perception of tasks and also help you not to respond negatively to their lack of interest.
Chunk activities into bite size pieces rather than trying to tackle it all at once. You can manage this by looking at their age appropriate attention spans.
Ensure that your child is watered and fed - there is so much more ability to concentrate if they are not thirsty/hungry.
Encourage body breaks. The more physical and invigorating these are, the better.
For more info, please get in touch.
Sources:
https://www.speechtherapycentres.com/children-and-age-appropriate-attention-spans/
https://www.edutopia.org/discussion/7-ways-increase-students-attention-span
https://blog.brainbalancecenters.com/normal-attention-span-expectations-by-age