How to Increase Your Child's Visual Attention

Visual attention is the ability to use the eyes to gather information about ones surroundings. It can be a life saving tool. You can increase your child’s visual attention by introducing him to a few simple concepts and games.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

1. Require your child to look you in the eyes when you are speaking with her. This may mean that you need to move between her and what she is doing or remind her. Say, “Look at me, please.” If she needs to be reminded repeatedly in the same conversation, use gentle words and speak in a calm voice. By insisting that she make and maintain eye contact with the speaker, you will eventually foster her habitual cooperation. Don't demand this attention or punish your child if it doesn't come. This only will make the child more resistant.
2. Say “Look with your eyes, not with your hands” whenever your child is tempted to grab things from a store shelf or a friend’s table. Repeat this phrase before entering a store or museum to reinforce the idea that this polite behavior will be required if the child hopes to return to this place again.
3. Play games that require visual attention while you are in the car. “I Spy” is a great one. Take turns giving a clue, sucha as “I spy something that is yellow,” when you are passing a McDonald’s restaurant sign with its golden arch. The person who guesses correctly gets to provide the next clue. Another great game is to seek the letters of the alphabet in order on signs and license plates. You can also try to find license plates from all 50 states while on a long trip.
4. Build your child’s ability to recreate visual images from memory by quizzing him about places or things that he has seen and experienced. Ask him about the remembered visual attributes: color, size, shape, thickness, location.
5. Stop occasionally when you are reading aloud to your child. Ask her to describe the scene in the story or what a character looks like. Answering this kind of question takes a high level of visualization. Not only does your child have to comprehend the words in the story accurately, she also has to access her visual memory bank. If she can do this well, she is functioning with highly developed visual attention skills.
6. Test your child’s visual memory by placing an assortment of objects in a paper bag. Ask him to place his arm inside the bag and grab one item. Before he can remove the object from the bag, he must guess what it is. This also is a fun party game. Children who correctly guess what they are touching without first seeing the object are developing acute visual attention skills.

Tips & Warnings

• Your child will do better in school if you remind him to “keep his eyes on the teacher.” This will hone his concentration so he doesn't miss the object of a lesson.
• By phrasing your instructions to your child in the positive you will have a greater likelihood of being obeyed. For example, “Walk!” is more likely to be obeyed than “Don’t run!”