5 Tips for Children: Increase Mental Focus, Attention, Energy & Capacity, Part II

In 5 Tips For Children:  Increase Mental Focus, Attention, Energy & Capacity, Part II, I offer five additional easy-to-implement, inexpensive and fun tips to increase attention span, mental energy and focus.  As in the previous post, implementing just one of these tips will have its benefits; implementing more than one or all will have greater benefit. I recommend you begin implementing the tip you find easiest from this post or the previous post and then building from there.

     1.  Drink water

The human brain is made up of approximately 90% water. Drinking plenty of clean, plain water helps keep the brain well-hydrated and functioning at an optimal level. Many studies have shown that drinking water aids brain functioning and that lack of brain hydration leads to most temporary difficulties in concentration and focus.

There is some debate over how much water is enough, whether we need to get all of our water from drinking it or could we get it from a combination of drinking and eating foods with a high water content. While bodies differ in this requirement, a safe estimate for children under eight is 6 to 8 glasses per day and 8 or more for older children. This also depends on the outside temperature and the child’s activity level. If your child is at school, aim for your child to have about 3 to 4 glasses during the school day.  It is a good idea to send your child to school with a water bottle they can drink from throughout the day. It is best to provide them with clean, filtered water.  A glass water bottle with a protective cover is a great option since it easy to clean and there is no worry about toxins leeching into the water, and stainless steel water bottles are also a great choice. You can make the entire process fun for you and your child by selecting a cool water bottle to bring to school. 

Anything added to the water is just another substance the body has to break down. If your child has an intense aversion to drinking plain water, try adding a tiny amount of stevia to sweeten it a bit or a small amount of low sugar, 100% organic not-from-concentrate fruit juice with no additives, such as apple or cranberry to their water until they get used to drinking it. You can decrease this amount weekly until finally your child is drinking just plain water. Drinking water is necessary for overall health and will help with brain functioning, focus and concentration.

     2.  Spend time outdoors

Spending time outdoors — as well as being good for emotional and physical well-being — has a positive effect on mental functioning. Richard Louv has written extensively on the link between spending time outdoors and its positive effects.  He suggests that some attention disorders, as well as obesity and depression, are a result of a lack of time spent outdoors and a connection with nature. I highly recommend his book Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder.

Experts recommend getting at least fifteen minutes of sunlight (without sunscreen) per day to keep Vitamin D levels at a healthy level. On the days when the sun is not shining, spending even a few minutes outdoors still has its benefits and positive effects on focus, attention, mental energy and capacity. In most instances, dressing appropriately for the weather will make spending time in the outdoors safe and enjoyable. Of course, discretion should be used in cases of extreme weather conditions.  Tune in to your local weather station for updates and suggestions.

Spending time outdoors does not have to include intense physical activity. In fact, spending time observing and using all of our senses in the outdoors has been shown to increase focus, attention, creativity and overall brain activity, not to mention what it can do to ignite a child’s imagination and curiosity. If the young person likes sitting and thinking best while outdoors, encouraging this behavior will have the same benefits as intense physical activity.

     3.  New activities

Trying something new, especially activities that use both left- and right-brain applications, increases the capacity of the brain and encourages the brain to form new neurological pathways. While routines are great and a necessary part of daily activities, trying something new encourages new thought patterns and is similar to problem solving in activating areas of the brain. Trying something new can take the form of simply reading something in a different genre than usual, tinkering with puzzles, playing a different type of board game or even taking a different route to school or home.

Trying an entirely new activity, besides being fun and perhaps leading to a new interest, will have added benefit on focus, attention and brain capacity. Young people are curious by nature.  When your child shows an interest in a new activity, take advantage of the opportunity when possible, even if it winds up being a short-term interest.

    4.  Build or Create Something

Building or creating something are perhaps some of the best ways to utilize both the left and right hemispheres of the brain. In general, building or creating something entails planning and analyzing (left brain) and  visualizing the whole and synthesizing (right brain). Some parents may be thinking,  I have watched my child build something, and it seemed there was no plan at all. From an adult perspective, this may have some truth; however, when a child begins building or creating something, they generally start with a vision and devise some sort of plan, no matter how rudimentary, to go about bringing that vision to fruition.

It does not matter much what is being built or created or what the outcome is. Adults can help this process along best by putting aside their own expectations and allowing the young person to work out the process on his or her own. Forget about coloring inside the lines if the young person wants to go outside them.  This engages the analytical and critical (left brain) processes of the brain, as well the intuitive and holistic processes (right brain).

If this process happens often enough, it will become easier, more fluid and more satisfying. The more it happens, the bigger the impact on concentration, focus and brain capacity.  For some great ideas to engage your children in creative activities, check out The Toddlers Busy Book: 365 Creative Games and Activities to Keep Your 1 1/2- to 3-Year-Old Busy or Creative Activities for Young Children.

      5.  Daydreaming

Yes, daydreaming. Daydreaming often is looked upon as frivolous and as something reserved for the lazy, unfocused and unproductive or only for the very young.  However, daydreaming is inevitable and nearly impossible to stave off.  Some experts estimate that we spend about one-third of our lifetime daydreaming. It would seem that something so hard-wired into our brains is there due to its many benefits. So there is no cause to worry if a child daydreams.  You can take solace in the fact that daydreaming is part of being human and is necessary for a healthy, functioning brain.

Daydreaming has been shown by psychologists and neuroscientists to be a great way to allow the brain to process complex thoughts and problems.  It has also been shown to activate many areas of the brain, and sometimes additional areas are activated during times of intense focus and concentration. Daydreaming can happen at any time and often takes place during a routine task, such as putting on shoes. These are often the times when the best ideas happen or the solution to a complex problem takes place.

Daydreaming actually boosts productivity.  Letting the mind wander can help make thoughts more clear and focused, and as stated above, activates other areas of the brain. Researchers monitoring brain activity before, during and after daydreaming found that during and after daydreaming the areas of the brain responsible for creativity and problem solving were more active. Participants also reported feeling more refreshed and having more mental clarity, focus and energy. Daydreaming has also been shown to help with relaxation and to relieve boredom.

This is not to suggest that all young people should do all day is daydream and that there aren’t times when focus and attention are needed. Daydreaming is not the sole domain of the slacker, loafer or silly-heart; it is a necessary process for a creative, productive, balanced, entrepreneurial healthy brain.

     Points to Remember

• The above tips are suggestions to help increase your child’s mental focus, energy, capacity and concentration.  They are not intended as medical advice or as a replacement of or a course of treatment. If your child has a confirmed or suspected medical condition, please consult your medical practitioner before implementing any of these suggestions.
• Include your child in the decision-making process and also be observant and in tune to what your child enjoys doing. None of these tips should be forced.  The best results will be from building upon what is already taking place throughout the course of a typical day or week.
• As with any change in routine or trying something new, start slow and make sure you can sustain the change. One of the biggest reasons for not sticking to a plan or proposed change is doing too much too soon. You and your child can always revisit these tips at a later date when the time seems right.
• Have fun with these tips!  Implement the ones you think are the easiest and most likely to be sustainable, and give yourself and your child break if some of them don’t work for you.

~ Article by Peter Berg of Education Transformation.org ~

***For more exciting information on Peter Berg, please visit IHH’s Guest Authors page.***

5 Tips for Children:  Increase Mental Focus, Attention, Energy & Capacity

Parents, teachers and young people often look for ways to help young people and themselves increase mental focus, attention, energy and capacity. The following 5 tips are easy to implement, inexpensive, fun and will go a long way in increasing attention span, mental energy and focus.

1.   Eat Whole Foods

One of the best ways to sustain mental energy and concentration is to eat whole foods. Whole foods are foods that are as close to their natural state as possible.  An example of this would be eating an apple rather than apple pie or even apple sauce, which is often loaded with sugar and artificial ingredients. Nutrients taken in by eating whole foods are more easily utilitzed by the body. Eating whole foods ensures the most efficient usage of nutrients that fuel brain activity, such as concentration, focus, memory and problem-solving and also has a positive effect on emotions and stress.

Foods For Concentration and Brain Health

• Whole foods, such as blueberries, wild-caught salmon, nuts and seeds (such as walnuts, almonds and sunflower seeds), avocados, whole grains (oatmeal, millet and quinoa), dark chocolate (cacao), green vegetables (kale, broccoli, celery) and pomegranates help specifically with memory and concentration, not to mention overall brain health. It is important to remember that these foods are best when eaten in as close to their natural state as possible. 
• As an example, blueberry breakfast pastries, which are often loaded with processed sugar and many artificial chemicals and additives, would not be considered a whole food and may actually dull memory and concentration in the short run and in the long run may lead to brain deficiencies as well as other negative health effects.  
• Eating whole foods can be kid-friendly and fun.  Getting your kids involved in the process of creating a meal, planting a garden with your kids or visiting a farmers market and/or farm with your kids are great ways to get them excited about exploring and eating whole foods.  They will find that eating whole foods are not only nutritious, but delicious as well.
• Please see the many recipes on this blog for tips on whole-food delicious recipes.  A particular favorite of mine is the Chocolate Pudding With A Twist recipe.  It is kid-friendly, kid-tested and yummy!  

     2.   Reduce Stress & Increase Brain Activity

Today’s young people are under a record amount of stress, from the pressures of school (kindergarten through college), social life, extracurricular activities, family responsibilities, to the constant bombardment of images and emotions they are subjected to from various forms of media and other sources, such as video games, etc.  While it is true that today’s young people are more technologically inclined than ever before and have become used to having technology as part of their lives, any input (known as stimuli in psychology) has the potential to create stress, and even positive events produce what is called positive stress.

With all the input today’s young people take in and all the pressure they are under, it’s more important than ever to reduce stress. Reducing stress will make it more likely that students will be able to focus their mental energy and have more of it to dedicate to concentration, learning and reflecting.

     Effective ways to reduce stress

All of the activities below are also great ways to increase brain activity, creativity and create more neurological (brain cell) pathways. 

• Play.  Taking time for play; unstructured physical and mental activity is perhaps the most effective way to reduce stress. Unfortunately, real play is becoming less and less a part of the daily routine of young people. Play is different from physical activity, though physical activity can be a part of play.
• Physical Activity.  Any form of physical activity — dancing, hiking, walking, running, marital arts, yoga, tai chi, various sports — is very effective in reducing stress along with a host of other benefits. These are generally structured activities but do not have to be.
• Quiet time.  It is important for young people to have quiet time to allow hormone  levels to balance and have a mental break. This replenishes mental energy and the nutrients required to maintain it. See if you can work in at least 15 minutes a day of quiet time, not including bed time, where there is no activity or input into a child’s routine.
• Social time.  Equally important as quiet time is time spent with family and friends. Ideally, this time would be a mixture of structured (playing Scrabble, Uno, Jenga) and unstructured (building a spaceship out of whatever is around) activities, and just plain old sitting around and talking and having fun.
• Journaling & Music.  Time spent journaling, whether in written or audio form with no prescribed way to reflect or what to reflect on, has been shown to reduce stress. Listening to and playing music have also been shown to reduce stress. Allowing time for both of these at least a few times a week can be very effective in reducing stress.

     3.  Reading

Reading is important for many reasons.  One benefit of reading is that it can sharpen focus and attention. It doesn’t matter what the child is reading in terms of topic (parental discretion) and level, so long as they are reading. If they don’t like reading in particular, find some books, magazines, etc., about something they are interested in. This can also take place in short intervals, as even 5 minutes or a page each night is beneficial. If the young person is not yet reading on his or her own, being read to has been shown to have similar benefits. Reading or being read to can also be another great stress reducer.

     4.  Brain Games and Puzzles

Playing brain games, figuring out puzzles and solving problems enhances the problem-solving areas of the brain, sharpens focus, concentration and memory. These have actually been shown to increase synapse activity, which are the areas of the brain that help neurons (brain cells) communicate with each other. Believe it or not, most cell phones come with some sort of memory or brain game, as do most computers.  Utilize this technology when it’s available. These can also take place in short intervals, gradually increasing in time and difficulty.

     5.  Meditation 

When most people hear the word mediation, it conjures up the image of one sitting cross-legged on the floor chanting “om.” While meditation can certainly take this form, it is definitely not the only form it exists in. Simply focusing on ones breath is a form of meditation or even just sitting quietly with eyes closed is a form of meditation.

Meditation has been proven to not only reduce stress, but increase brain activity, enhance focus and attention and increase the capacity of the brain. Brain scans of people who meditate show more active areas of the brain than people who do not meditate. There are various safe, easy forms of meditation that can be enjoyed by the whole family. Some take very little time. 

• In this linked post, Dr. Andrew Weil provides three simple breathing exercises that are easy and effortless to perform:  Breathing:  Three Exercises.  Dr. Andrew Weil states that “Practicing regular, mindful breathing can be calming and energizing and can even help with stress-related health problems ranging from panic attacks to digestive disorders.”

Combine any of these three breathing exercies with another form of short meditation of your choice every day to receive stress-reduction and overall health benefits.

      Points To Remember:

• These 5 quick tips are designed to increase your child’s concentration, focus, mental activity, brain capacity and overall brain health. Start slow with each of these areas; perhaps choose one area to start with and try adding in one more each week. These should not be stressful or intrusive and definitely not forced or a source of disappointment.  Look for ways to integrate these into your normal daily routine.
• Starting with whole foods, you can add one or two whole foods to a meal, rather than substitute it for another food. Going back to the example of the blueberry breakfast pastry, you can begin by adding in whole blueberries along with the blueberry breakfast pastry, then slowly add in more whole blueberries while decreasing the serving of breakfast pastry until finally the whole blueberries become the meal. This is generally a more successful way of changing or adding in a healthy behavior while decreasing or letting go of an unhealthy one.
• The other areas can be approached in the same way, such as adding in 5 minutes of quiet time while not cutting out another activity initially.  By adding in and not cutting out behaviors, the activities become more enjoyable and sustainable. 
• Have fun with these tips, add some of your and your child’s ideas, and they will become part of your child’s daily routine in no time.

 ~ Article by Peter Berg of Education Transformation.org ~

***For more exciting information on Peter Berg, please visit IHH’s Guest Authors page.***