Does your child struggle to focus during class? When home, are they glued to their phone or TV throughout the day? Help children increase their attention span by implementing the engaging activities below to make learning fun and interactive!
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Increase Attention Span with Reading
- Complete Interactive Activities
- Connect Activities to Specific Interests
- Increase Attention Span with Encouragement
- Help Your Student Focus and Develop an Attention Span
- My First Lab’s Mission
Increase Attention Span with Reading
One difficulty keeping kids’ attention span on track is the widespread consumption of quick, short-form reading material online. Instead, make reading books more fun for your kids by offering prizes for reading or understanding a book. Reading increases kids’ attention span because it forces them to focus on long-form uninterrupted content.
Another way to make reading more exciting for your child or student is by taking them to your local library to see what books they like or are interested in naturally.
Reading is excellent for improving attention span because it does not have to be subject-specific! Children who read can spark their interest in STEM by learning to engage in hands-on hobbies and materials.
Complete Interactive Activities
Sometimes learning can feel boring when it doesn’t seem to have many real-world applications. We constantly hear kids say, “Why does this even matter?”. You can combat learning aversion by getting s STEM toys and educational aids that allow them to see the real-world purposes of science concepts.
My First Lab Experiments introduce your student to hands-on STEM activities! Learn about genetics, solvents, liquid density, isotropic reactions, and more with our scientist, Mad Maxx! Create this fun and easy ocean currents experiment!
How to Create Ocean Currents Science Experiment
Are you curious about how ocean currents form? Create an ocean current simulator with Mad Maxx!
Create Ocean Currents with Mad Maxx!
All you need are three materials you can find around your house: water, food coloring, and a clear container! Here’s Maxx’s breakdown of what you will need:
Ocean Current Ingredients
- Water: cold, boiling hot, and ice cubes
- Food dye: red and blue
Ocean Current Tools
- Container: see-through or light color
- Optional: toy dolphins/sea animals
Instructions for Creating Ocean Currents
Cold Water
- Fill 1/3 of your container with cold water.
- Add 1-2 drops of blue dye to create a light color.
- Put 2 cups of ice cubes in your mixture.
- Wait for the ice to melt, so the water will chill.
Hot Water
- Boil 3-4 cups of water while you wait for the ice to melt.
- Add 2-3 drops of red dye to the hot water. Unlike blue, this color should be dark.
Mix Cold and Hot Water
- Pour the hot water into a corner of your cold-water container.
Your hot water should go through the cold, leaving currents in its wake! Eddies, swirling currents, might even form! Once everything sets, your water will mimic the ocean’s by becoming warm.
Are you interested in learning more about ocean currents? Click through our interactive flip cards below to gain new knowledge about the ocean!
The wind causes surface currents! The Earth’s rotation can also impact ocean currents. Temperature, density, and the amount of salt in the water can create deep ocean currents.
Activities that are creative and allow students to be spontaneous increase attention span. Although students struggle with concentration, finding new ways to solve complex issues in an experiment or activity helps students to focus on a goal they want to achieve.
My First Lab’s Interactive Products
Another great way to increase attention span is by engaging with learning aides like our Smartphone Inspector or WOW Scope. These products are perfect for allowing students to be curious, creative, and see real-world applications of science.
Seeing actual applications gives kids an incentive to learn, and these incentives help provide kids with the motivation they need to remain interested and on track.
Hands-on STEM education is a great way to get students excited about learning. Learn more about the benefits of STEM education on our blog, STEM Learning Promotes Success.
Warm currents bring rain whereas cold currents bring fresh water!
Connect Activities to Specific Interests
Combine learning with their interests! For example, if your student loves Minecraft, teach them about the engineering concepts that make it possible for structures to exist. Or if they play sports, teach them about the laws of motion! It’s much easier to focus on something if it relates to something that draws your interest!
Plankton grows in the intersection of the cold and warm currents. Fish eat plankton, and the ocean currents carry them throughout the water!
Increase Attention Span with Encouragement
Sometimes attention spans decrease from the fear and embarrassment of being wrong or not understanding. It’s always beneficial to encourage kids to focus on the positives, even when they struggle with a subject.
Additionally, how you introduce a student to a topic can make a positive difference in their ability to focus and gain interest. Our Duo Scope Starter Kit is a great beginner microscope to introduce students to the STEM world with experiments and activities they’re interested in!
When migrating, animals use ocean currents to quickly travel to their breeding grounds.
Help Your Student Focus and Develop an Attention Span
Eliminate distractions to help kids focus on their learning. Try having them take a break from their electronics and focus on something else without being interrupted.
A break could be as simple as replacing an hour of television with an hour of reading. Try adding STEM toys to improve their ability to learn. One product you can try is our I-Explore Scope, which lets kids investigate the world around them by studying bugs, rocks, and more!
My First Lab’s Mission
Helping your student stay attentive can give them the edge they need when succeeding at school. Attentiveness affects information processing, memory, and retention. Using some of these tips and tricks will help your student to focus and improve at school!
Are you interested in learning more about how to make learning engaging and interactive? Check out our blog page to access experiments that teach STEM in fun and engaging ways!
My First Lab has led in developing STEM equipment for the past 30 years. With products ranging from microscopes and bundles to prepared slides and accessories, we will have any product that a junior investigator, hobbyist, or educational leader could need. Learn how to create hands-on experiments by browsing our blog or checking out our award-winning products.
