How to Engage Children's Attention at Home and School

How Do You Attract a Kid's Attention in an Activity or Lesson?

If you don't have a lot of experience with children, it can be quite intimidating to try to get them engaged in an activity and actually keep their attention for more than five seconds so you can teach them something.

These are normal fears, but the best thing you can do is relax; if you are having fun, the kids are having fun! That's my first tip: Relax and be yourself if you want to engage children.

For many years now, I have been working with young children and teenagers on a variety of informal and formal education projects. Engaging children is easy when you know how.

It can be difficult at first (believe me, I know), but follow the tips below, and you will soon find that engaging with children and keeping their attention has become second nature. These tips are all the things I wish someone had told me on my first day working with children!

How to Engage Kids in Learning: Tips for Parents and Educators

1. Share Your Enthusiasm
2. Make a Game Out of It
3. Give the Children an Active Role
4. Provide Real Experience Wherever You Can
5. Use Color
6. Tell Stories
7. Be Clear and Consistent

Near the end of the article, I've also included a few 'don'ts'—things that will lose children's attention faster than you can say, "What just happened?!"

1. Share Your Enthusiasm

We adults live in a cynical world where we have forgotten how to play, but young children exist in a state of perpetual wonder. So don't be afraid to make a fool of yourself—clown around a bit and pull a face or lead a game yourself and get the children to copy your actions.

Show them with your voice and your body language that you are really excited about spending time with them doing an activity.

2. Make a Game Out of It

There are very few activities that can't be turned into a game when you are trying to engage children. A game just means that you are trying to see how well you can do something, or you are challenging yourselves to reach a goal, or you are showing off what you can already do—and then seeing if you can do something even harder.

Friendly competition with no real losers will quickly engage children with an activity. A simple phrase like "Let's see how fast we can do this!" will soon grant you the children's full attention.

3. Give the Children an Active Role

No one likes a lecture, and children least of all. The best way to learn is by doing, and children in particular respond really well to getting a chance to try something for themselves. So include them! Even if you are telling a story, you can get them involved by asking them to act out some of the parts or predict the repeating lines.

• You: And the wolf said ...
• Everyone: ... and I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house down!

4. Provide Real Experiences Wherever You Can

Your interaction with children is a chance to pull them away from the virtual world of computers into a real-life sensory experience. Children love what they can touch and taste and smell.

Reading about animals is no substitute for meeting real, live animals. Hearing about the life cycle of a plant bears no comparison with getting to dig up soil and plant your own seeds, then checking back on how they grow—not to mention cooking and eating the product at the end!

Even if you can't get outdoors, you can still offer a real-life experience. Crafts are great for this, as are hands-on science experiments and dramatic role-play.

5. Use Color

Colorful visuals are essential for engaging children, especially young children. Think of the storybooks you loved when you were a child—I bet they had beautiful, colorful pictures, or else the story inspired a colorful image in your mind. Clowns know what they are doing with their costumes; children's attention is drawn by color. So use colorful posters, storybooks or flashcards to engage young children and keep their attention.

6. Tell Stories

Everyone loves stories, and children most of all. A well-told story will always engage children's attention. The best teachers are the ones who have learned how to make any information into a story. The latest neuro-marketing research has demonstrated that our brains remember stories better than any other form of information-sharing, making stories the best way to teach just about anything! Stories are particularly powerful for teaching life lessons and moral values, but a creative teacher can turn even a science lesson into a story.

7. Be Clear and Consistent

Children can relax and engage better if they know what to expect from you; they need to know what the rules are and that you will stick to them. Consistency is key. Children hate perceived unfairness. The rules are the rules, and you can even make the rules fun by setting up a system of rewards that lets them chart their progress.

Children actually really like having a routine so they know where they stand—like Saturday is ice-cream day or Friday afternoon is free-play time. A structured routine gives them a safe space in which to play.

Dos and Don'ts for Keeping Children's Attention

• Do raise your voice so you can be heard.
• Don't ever shout. Losing your temper with children will cause them to quickly disengage from you and damage your relationship with them.
• Do have fun together.
• Don't forget that you are in charge. You still need to keep the children within the rules and boundaries.
• Do use games and structured activities to illustrate a point.
• Don't just stand and lecture children with a flow of words.
• Do change the pitch and tone of your voice when you speak, emphasizing the important words in a sentence.
• Don't speak in a meaningless monotone!
• Do challenge children with games and problem-solving activities.
• Don't set them up for failure with a task that is far beyond their abilities.
• Do use friendly competition to focus their attention.
• Don't create a high-pressure atmosphere with painful consequences for 'losers'. A sense of failure will quickly cause children to disengage. The best competition is against a goal (e.g. see if you can run across the yard and back in under a minute) rather than against each other—that just leads to tears and tantrums.

Connect With What Kids Love

These are the core principles that have worked for me over and over again to keep children interested and involved in an activity. I've learned these techniques from working with children of all age groups and from a variety of cultures. The amazing thing is that most kids love the same stuff. If you can connect with what children love, you will find it easy to engage them in all sorts of positive educational activities.

This content is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge and is not meant to substitute for formal and individualized advice from a qualified professional.

Comments

uknown on December 14, 2019:

this is very good edvice thanks with all the support so my kids are behaving thanks a lot :D

Grace on March 14, 2019:

I am teaching children every sunday and some lessons would go well while others would bomb and I couldn't figure out what it was. This has been eye opening

Nelson on January 24, 2018:

I have found it to be true and resourceful.

Marie McKeown (author) from Ireland on May 24, 2015:

I'm glad you found it useful!

Raven Monique Veal from Louisiana on May 21, 2015:

Great hub. I agree that children should have guidelines, but as an educator, having fun is just as important.

How practical to have this article for parents who are facing the task to entertain and educate this summer! Great job!

chandrika on April 23, 2015:

Very useful tips

Damaris Bushong from Minnesota on July 01, 2014:

Great hub Marie, you outlined some very useful advice. Children do learn best when they are having fun. I am a year away from my Elementary Degree and have been working on several lesson plans that involve movement and art, because they have been shown to help kids learn the most.

Brandon Hart from USA on November 11, 2013:

I would agree. I think that reading with kids is very helpful and will help build and strengthen your relationship.

Marie McKeown (author) from Ireland on November 07, 2013:

I hope you will keep connecting with them and enjoying the experience! Thanks for taking the time to comment. :)

Brandon Hart from USA on November 05, 2013:

With technology at our finger tips, I feel like we are loosing touch with our kids. Its hard for people to understand how important it is to engage and involve your kids on a regular basis. I certainly could do better. Thanks for the amazing hub!

Marie McKeown (author) from Ireland on February 20, 2013:

Good luck with your work!

lola on February 19, 2013:

thanks this site has help me loads and makes a lot of sence as i am volunteering in two primary schools and some of the juniors are not listing two me as they can tell im not too much older than them so thanks

Marie McKeown (author) from Ireland on December 04, 2012:

I am very glad you found it helpful!

Glory on December 04, 2012:

i am a children teacher in my small circle and have learnt sme useful tips on hw to engage children. tanks 4 dis useful hub.

Marie McKeown (author) from Ireland on May 27, 2012:

Glad to know my tips will be put into practice. I am sure you will learn fast. Good luck with your volunteering!

Clare on May 27, 2012:

I am about to Volunteer with children and have no clue so this has been very helpful. Thank you.

Marie McKeown (author) from Ireland on February 19, 2012:

Thanks Melis Ann. I am glad you found the tips useful!

Melis Ann from Mom On A Health Hunt on February 19, 2012:

Good details here - and when I'm conscious to use these methods they really do work. Always good to see a checklist reminder to boil down to a few great strategies for engaging children and keeping their attention.

Marie McKeown (author) from Ireland on February 10, 2012:

Hey Wendy. Good luck with all your great work bringing up the next generation!

Wendy Finn from UK on February 10, 2012:

Brilliant tips. I'm a mom and volunteer at a school but everyone could use a little more help in this area to be sure. I have a borderline ADHD child so keeping her attention is even more crucial. Thanks for this useful hub,

Marie McKeown (author) from Ireland on January 29, 2012:

You're very welcome Kelleyward. Thanks for taking the time to leave feedback!

kelleyward on January 29, 2012:

Really enjoyed reading this. I think color is very important when trying to get kids to pay attention. Great ideas! Thanks

Usha on December 08, 2011:

Thanks for the great hits. . !

Raj Lally Batala from Chicago ,USA on December 08, 2011:

Great tips !! especially do's and dont's !! thanks

Lou1842 on November 18, 2011:

This is a fantastic hub with some brilliant tips. I like to raise my own children in this way but sometimes it's easy to forget to make things fun when you get wrapped up in your own life. This hub reminds me of what I need to do.

I especially like the tip about competition. Competing against yourself and not having to compare yourself with others is a good way to raise children.

RalphGreene on November 07, 2011:

Excellent topic and hub! Thanks for sharing.

John Orton on April 25, 2011:

Very nice post, am agreed with this point that "Children just want to have fun!", so just give them what they want but make sure that they should perform only healthy activities.

Marie McKeown (author) from Ireland on April 10, 2011:

Glad you have found this hub useful!

Sharon Smith from Northeast Ohio USA on April 08, 2011:

Great writing with very helpful ideas. Thanks!

Simone Haruko Smith from San Francisco on April 07, 2011:

An excellent, excellent guide! I'm terrible with children, so I can use every bit of advice there is!

cardelean from Michigan on April 07, 2011:

Great tips in this hub! Nicely done.