- According to the journal Frontiers in Public Health, constantly watching short videos on your phone quickly and intensely stimulates your small nervous system.
- Simply arranging puzzles on the carpet is the easiest way to effectively train your child to focus at a very natural pace.
- Research from the Psychological Bulletin report confirms that rapidly changing images on the screen weaken a child’s mental endurance
- Ordinary and simple physical activities without the TV on in the background help regain attention spoiled by flashy Internet content.
Why do short videos spoil your concentration? The impact of the telephone on learning
Parents often wonder why their children can spend hours scrolling through short recordings on their phones and become discouraged after a few minutes of solving blocks. Watching very dynamic content that lasts only a dozen or so seconds strongly stimulates the toddler’s nervous system. In this way, the child gets a quick reward that gives him great pleasure.
As we can read in the journal Frontiers in Public Health, the constant flow of such flashy images causes a release of dopamine in the head (a chemical compound responsible for feeling happiness and motivation). A toddler’s brain quickly gets used to such a high level of stimulation and over time it needs more and more of it. As a result, ordinary and everyday activities seem extremely boring over time, and the child has a huge problem maintaining attention on one thing.
The child is smart, but quickly completes tasks. We explain the reasons
This phenomenon results from the fact that frequent looking at rapidly changing images weakens the child’s mental strengthwhich is confirmed by a study published in the Psychological Bulletin report. The mind becomes accustomed to immediate entertainment and slowly loses the ability to perform slower activities. This is why it is so difficult to get a toddler to read a book, draw or solve school tasks. Natural, home activities require longer effort and patience, and a head accustomed to a dizzying pace gets tired and gives up much more quickly.. Therefore, it is worth helping your child calmly return to activities that do not provide so many stimuli at once.
How to effectively train your child to focus? Simple home fun
Instead of immediately setting difficult challenges for your toddler, it may be a good idea to return to traditional toys and spending quiet time. According to HealthyWA’s advice, to help your child with… concentration trainingit is worth introducing a few simple habits at home:
- turn off the TV and put away your phone to remove any unnecessary distractions from the room
- suggest doing puzzles together or playing board games appropriate to the child’s age
- alternate loud physical games in the yard with quiet sitting on the carpet
- give your child very short tasks with a clear goal (for example, ask them to stack five blocks on top of each other)
Casual puzzles and games are a great way to learn to remember and solve problems at your own, natural pace. It is also good to take regular breaks during play so that the toddler’s head can rest and gain strength before the next stage of the task.
Sources:
