Card index of games and exercises for preschool children “Development of attention in preschoolers” card index on the topic

WHAT IS ATTENTION?

Attention is a certain psychological process, a person’s ability to concentrate on a necessary action. A child’s success at school largely depends on how well it is developed, so it is very important to start working in preschool age, to create conditions for involuntary attention to develop into a voluntary, volitional ability to concentrate. And the best thing parents can do is to develop the ability to concentrate through play.

The following characteristics of this process can be distinguished.

• Volume. That is, the amount of information that a child can retain in his mind.
• Concentration. A child’s ability to concentrate on something specific.
• Sustainability. The time period during which it is possible to maintain concentration.
• Distribution. The ability to divide attention into several simultaneously occurring processes.
• Switchability. The ability to quickly transfer concentration from one action to another.

The task of parents is to work with their children so productively that they form and develop all these characteristics.

Attention is one of the processes of the cognitive, that is, cognitive, sphere of a person - along with memory, thinking, perception and imagination. Without concentration, it is impossible to obtain new information in the required volume and remember it, so this process can be confidently called the first stage of cognition. Then, with the help of memory, a person accumulates acquired information. Only with the necessary level of attention will a child be able to learn cognitive processes such as reading, writing, and learning in the future.

Games and exercises for memory development

Memory Game

Age: from 3 years

This is one of the most famous and favorite memory development games for children. Otherwise it is called “Find a Pair”. The game is a set of paired pictures with the same designs: for the little ones it is usually 12 cards (6 pairs), for older children the number increases. The idea is simple - find identical pairs from the total number of cards lying face down. If the cards match, the player takes them, if not, returns them back.

There are a lot of both paper memories and online games. Ikyusha also loves such exercises, try to find the pairs faster than him?

Game "What's gone?"

Age: from 3 years

An excellent game for developing visual memory and increasing attention span, which does not require additional materials.

Place 4-5 toys or small objects in front of your child for a minute and ask him to turn away. Then remove one item and ask what is missing? The kid must name what is missing. If the game is boring, diversify it by adding a new item.

The task must be gradually made more difficult, increasing both the total number of toys and those that we add or remove. Focus on the child’s age: for example, by the age of 6-7 years, a child can easily remember up to 10 objects.

Choose a pattern

Exercise “Fold the pattern”

Age: from 4 years

Make a pattern or lay out a drawing from simple geometric shapes (can be cut out of cardboard) or construction set parts and ask your child to remember it. Then the child needs to turn away for a while, and during this time you change the location of one figure or part. The baby’s task is to find changes and restore the pattern.

At first you can start with 3-4 parts, gradually increasing their number. If the child can do it easily, remove several parts or all at once, asking him to reassemble the pattern.

This exercise develops memory and imagination, increases the volume and concentration of attention.

Choose a pattern

Game “Remarkables”

Age: from 5 years.

Ask your child to close his eyes and list everything he saw in the room, indoors, outside. The more small details he remembers, the better! Ask your child leading questions if it is still difficult for him to answer. For example, how many children play in the sandbox? Did the cashier at the store have long or short hair? How many cups were there on the table?

Game "Locomotive"

Age: 4-7 years

This is a very fun and entertaining game for a small group of children. The idea is simple - the first child names any object, the next player repeats the word and names his own. The third child repeats what the first two said and adds himself, and so on.

“Locomotive” helps to increase memory capacity, develop auditory perception and voluntary attention. You can also consolidate the material in this way, for example, by naming only fruits, vegetables, trees, flowers.

Tag

Age: from 6-7 years

The last of our selection, but one of the most famous games! Tags are a square board with 16 identical square sections inside. 15 of them contain dominoes with numbers from 1 to 15, which are located randomly in the box. The player's task is to place them in the correct order, moving from top to bottom and left to right.

The game perfectly develops memory and logical thinking. Are you ready to play yet?

Whatever game you choose, they will all bring the desired result only with systematic training. Include these tasks in your list of regular tasks and soon you will notice how your child will become more collected and attentive, it will be much easier for him to remember and retain the necessary information in his memory. And most importantly, this will happen very naturally and unnoticed in the process of fun and exciting activities.

KINDS

There are several types of attention that have their own specificity in preschool children.

First of all, passive (involuntary, or unintentional) attention, that is, concentration on something interesting, unusual without the child’s volitional efforts. In preschool age, this type is the main one: first, children pay attention to something noticeable, then they begin to be interested in what they did not know before, new to themselves.

The next stage of development is the formation of voluntary attention, and it is important to understand that it will not arise on its own from involuntary attention; for this it is necessary to train the child. The active variety is directly related to volitional efforts, so if a child is sick or irritated, his ability to concentrate decreases. Voluntary attention begins to form at the age of 4-5, although the first type still remains dominant throughout preschool childhood.

Mindfulness exercises for children 4-5 years old

Children of this age are able to concentrate on a task for 20 minutes. The amount of attention increases, the baby learns to distribute it correctly. Role-playing games, creative activities (drawing, modeling, appliqué), and performing household chores help develop attention. A 4-5 year old child can already follow the rules quite well and remember them, due to this the voluntariness of all mental processes, including attention, develops. Here are games that will help your baby become more attentive:

• "4 Elements". Give your child instructions: each of the 4 elements has its own movement. When you call the word, the baby must perform the correct movement. For example, water – arms out to the side, earth – arms down, air – arms up, fire – jump. You can come up with your own version of the game that will interest your child.
• “Heard - clap.” Call out different words and have your child listen carefully and clap their hands when they hear a word that belongs to a pre-selected category (such as animals or vegetables).
• Labyrinths. This task, beloved by all children, perfectly develops visual attention and thinking.
• "Confusion." The child must name who is depicted in the picture.

To avoid absent-mindedness and other attention disorders, do not overload your baby with too complex tasks.

CONCENTRATION STANDARDS

Concentration of attention refers to the period of time during which a person is able to maintain concentration on one action. In children, it can have a different duration depending on age, but even the number of years lived is not a fundamental factor. The norm depends on the individual characteristics of the baby. The table shows specific indicators.

Indicators can be either increased or decreased, because attention, like the body and brain, can be trained with special exercises. Regular classes with a preschooler will give parents and the child a good mood, and will also be very useful for improving the ability to concentrate on something and maintain this concentration. It is necessary to develop it so that the child becomes more observant and can easily detect any small details or subtle signs. All this will further help in the learning process, since attention is closely related to memorization.

How is attention formed in children?

There are several factors that influence the speed of formation of the skill of attention during the learning process. Here are some of them:

• individual pace of learning;
• absence of long pauses in the learning process;
• reliance on active mental activity (application of generalization and comparison tasks, searching for examples and drawing conclusions);
• reliance on existing knowledge and skills;
• accompaniment of intellectual activity with special physical activity;
• absence of external stimuli that attract involuntary attention and distract from the cognitive process (loud remarks, comments, sudden movements, music and conversations);
• clarity and brevity of explanations of adults/conditions of the task that needs to be solved.

FORMATION OF ATTENTION

Psychologists distinguish 6 stages of attention development in children.

1. Disseminated (from 0 to 1 year). Children can be distracted by any noise or new toy.
2. Fixed (1-2 years). The kid, busy with his business, is so absorbed in it that he does not notice anything around him.
3. Flexible single-channel (2-3 years). He may stop what he is doing when he hears an address to himself, but will return to it very quickly.
4. Established single-channel (3-4 years). Children can switch from one process to another, interrupt their activities, and then return to them again.
5. Two-channel short-term (4-5 years). The child gains the ability to do two things at the same time - for example, play and listen to what his mother tells him. If it is necessary to perform a complex action, he is able to concentrate on it.
6. Emerging two-channel (5-6 years). Can do two things at the same time, which is why attention training should begin at this age.

Knowing these stages will help parents understand their child better.

Rules for training voluntary attention

Voluntary attention is a special type; its implementation requires goal setting and volitional efforts. In preschool children, neither one nor the other has yet been developed. Parents should develop all this by teaching their preschoolers to be independent. To properly work on developing voluntary attention at home, it is necessary to follow certain rules:

1. Consistency and systematicity of classes.
2. Working on voluntariness is difficult for young children. To make complex activities attractive to children, you need to start with easy-to-perform exercises, gradually moving on to more complex ones.
3. Training to develop voluntary attention is carried out in two positions:

• Special exercises for the basic properties of attention.
• Special tasks for developing attentiveness and eliminating attention depletion.

TECHNIQUES FOR INCREASING ATTENTION

We have seen that developing the ability to concentrate is of particular importance for preschoolers. And parents should train their children using an unobtrusive game form. Let's highlight a few tricks and techniques that you can use.

• Maintaining interest. Using game forms, you can ensure that the child will study with great pleasure and, accordingly, attentively.
• Stick to the duration of your classes. So, when studying numbers with a 4-year-old child, you need to understand that the child is able to hold attention for no more than 20 minutes, so it is better to keep the educational material within this framework.
• Favorite characters and toys will also help you not lose interest, and therefore listen and perceive what the parent is saying.
• Show by example. You can explain to the child that if he is attentive and tries to fulfill his parents’ instructions, then the result (for example, a tower of blocks) will turn out much better than if he worked without concentration, somehow.
• Reading and attention are interconnected, so to improve the second, you can teach your child the first. While the baby is just getting acquainted with letters, the mother can read interesting fairy tales and stories to him. Afterwards, you definitely need to discuss what you read, asking to retell it, asking questions. This will help you find out how carefully the baby listened.

If the baby has trouble concentrating and is very far from his age norm, then he may have shallow breathing. Inflating balloons, soap bubbles, playing the pipe or whistle will help correct the situation. In addition, studies have proven that walks in the fresh air and active sports games are very beneficial for children.

conclusions

In order for a child to absorb information well and be able to study successfully at school, it is necessary to devote enough time to developing his attention. When choosing games and exercises for your child, focus on his age, interests and individual characteristics. If the child does not want to complete a task or is very tired, you need to try to understand what is causing this: uninteresting material, difficulty of the task, bad mood or well-being. With the right approach, all cognitive processes of preschoolers, including attention, develop very quickly.

TYPES OF EXERCISES FOR DEVELOPMENT

The following types of attention tasks can be distinguished for 5–6 year olds.

• Repetition. The parent draws a series of 2-3 repeating figures on paper, the child’s task is to determine which one should go next and complete the series. Instead of figures, you can build rows of letters.
• Search for the superfluous. At first, the task is simple: for example, the baby is offered 10 triangles and 1 square or 5 animals and one plant. We are gradually making it more complicated: 5 garden flowers and 1 wildflower are presented.
• Find the difference. The game is well known to everyone. Two almost identical pictures are laid out in front of the child, his task is to find those details that are slightly different. The level of difficulty also varies depending on preparedness.

• A variation of the previous task - find two identical ones. The child is offered an illustration that depicts several objects, such as vases, that differ from each other in minor details. The preschooler must carefully examine the models and find two identical ones among them. In the first stages of work, it is better to use pictures with obvious differences; this will help the child gain self-confidence and reinforce his interest. Further tasks become more difficult.
• Working with pictures. There are special illustrations in which animals, such as tigers or wolves, are presented in a veiled form. You can invite your child to find them all.
• Correlation of an object and its shadow.

• Coloring by numbers. The parent gives the child a black and white picture that needs to be made in color, while the picture itself is divided into fragments, each of which is marked with its own number. A decoding of the numbers is provided separately (for example, 6 is pink, 5 is red). The child’s task is to carefully color the image without confusing the tones.
• Drawing by numbers. A very good exercise for preschoolers who are familiar with counting to one hundred, and children of primary school age. The child is offered a picture, which for now consists only of dots, next to which a number is indicated. The kid must connect them, moving in order: first find 1, then connect it with 2, and so on.

It is important to remember that training should be built according to the principle “from simple to complex.” If the child does not succeed in something, you should postpone this task and offer him a simpler option.

Games to develop attention for children 3-4 years old

In early preschool age, children's attention is not yet stable enough; it is difficult for them to concentrate on something, especially if there are distractions. The adult’s task is to select material for games that would be interesting to the child and he could concentrate on it for at least 5-7 minutes.

• “Complete the picture.” Draw objects that are missing details on a sheet of paper in advance. For example, a car without wheels, a cat without a tail, or a hare without ears. Let the child look carefully at the pictures and guess what is missing. Then the child or adult completes each picture.
• "Repeat after me". This exercise can be performed both at home and outdoors. Show your child a simple movement and ask him to repeat after you. Gradually increase the number of movements.
• "Find a match." Draw pairs of objects on paper or place them on the table. Let the baby put them in pairs.
• "Find differences". Invite your child to look at two pictures that differ from each other in several details (no more than 7). The baby must find these differences.
• “What did the artist mix up?” Draw or print a picture that shows objects in the wrong places or with the wrong details. For example, a car flies through the sky, a cat has bunny ears, fish walk on the ground, and so on. The child must show that the artist has mixed up and explain why.

For activities, choose bright and simple objects and images to interest your baby. If the child does not want to complete the task, do not insist. Please try again after some time.

EXAMPLES OF SIMPLE GAMES

There are a huge number of all kinds of games and tasks that will help your child learn to concentrate and also give him a good mood. The main thing is to conduct them in a positive way; the child should not have the thought that he is being taught something. It’s better if he is sure that mom and dad are playing with him.

AUDITORY ATTENTION

“Edible – Inedible” is a simple but effective game that you can play with one child or several. Mom throws the ball, saying the name of a dish, product or inedible item, such as clothing. The child listens carefully. If he hears the name of food, then he catches the ball, but if something unrelated to cooking sounds, then he needs to hit the ball.

There are many variations, so when a child is tired of food and is bored, you can offer slightly different games.

• "It flies - it doesn't fly." The mother names animals and birds, the child, when he hears the name of a bird, raises his hands, and when he hears the name of an animal, he crouches. Over time, the task becomes more complicated - the adult names the animal and raises his hands, while the child must pay attention and sit down.
• "Harvest". Mom is reading a story, into which she will periodically insert the words “plums” and “cherries,” and not always appropriately. The child must, firstly, hear the signal words themselves, and then perform the action: for “plums”, jump, for “cherries” - stand on one leg. An important feature is that the exercise is done from simple to complex: first, when pronouncing the text, the parent uses his voice to highlight signal words, then pronounces them in a normal rhythm so that the child is more attentive.
• "Catch - don't catch." You will need two small balls - light and dark. A light child should always catch, and a dark child should only catch when his mother silently throws him. If at the same time the command “Catch” is heard, then you cannot catch.
• "Repeat the rhythm." The mother sets a simple rhythm, beating it with her palms, and the baby must repeat it.
• "Clap." This is also an interesting task, the level of difficulty of which can vary depending on the child’s preparation. The mother gives the instruction: when she claps once, the child stands on his toes, when she claps twice, on his heels, when he claps three times, he squats. The speed of the clapping gradually increases.

All these games are good because they are not tied to a specific place, they can be played almost anywhere, and the child will not have the feeling that he is being taught something, he will have fun and interesting.

SERIES OF TASKS

The child is given instructions to complete several tasks (you need to start with three, gradually increasing their number), while all tasks are listed at once, so the child will have to remember both the actions themselves and their order. For example:

1. Jump 7 times.
2. Bring the red item.
3. Name a garden flower.

If the child did everything correctly, you should definitely praise him, but if something didn’t work out, correct him, but in a soft, delicate manner. Gradually the number of tasks and their complexity increases; such an exercise will also help improve memory.

OTHER EFFECTIVE GAMES

It is very important to constantly offer the preschooler something new, so that he gets the impression of a game, and not a useful activity. For example, "Dwarfs and Giants". The idea is simple: mom names an object, it must be either large (mountain, skyscraper, multi-story building, whale, elephant) or small (needle, button, coin, bead). The child listens, when a word from the “big” series is pronounced, that is, “giant,” he stands on his toes and raises his straight arms up, when the “small” one, he crouches.

If there are several children, you can play “Broken Phone”. To do this, all participants sit in a row, the first whispers a word in the ear of the second child, who passes it on to the third, and so on. The latter listens to the word and pronounces it out loud; if it matches the original version, then the phone works, but if not, it is broken.

“Guess where the woodpecker is.” An adult knocks, imitating the knock of a woodpecker, sometimes loudly (the bird is close), sometimes quietly (far away). The baby’s task is to tell where exactly the woodpecker is located.

VISUAL ATTENTION

There are a large number of exercises that will help improve visual concentration, and you can play in any convenient place - at home, on a walk, on the way to your grandmother. They are simple, do not require any preparation, and are effective.

• Search for an item. The mother describes some object that is in the room (outside), the child must find it with his eyes and name it.
• "Look at me". The child examines his mother, her outfit, hairstyle, and accessories for a few seconds. Then he turns his back to her and answers questions like “what color is my bag”, “am I wearing a lilac jacket”, “do I have a brooch”? The main thing is to formulate questions so that the child has a chance to answer them. You can make the work more complicated: the child looks at his mother, tries to remember the details of her costume, after which she changes something in her appearance, for example, takes off her scarf. The baby must remember the previous image and report what changes have happened to him. The game is played on the principle of increasing complexity: at first the change is obvious, then, when it becomes easier to achieve the required concentration of attention, the details are chosen to be less significant. For example, a mother can remove the ring from one finger and put it on the other, or make two changes to her image (of course, the child must be warned about this).
• Working with a picture. Very similar to the previous task. The child is given a picture that he has not seen before. He should try to remember as many details as possible. After this, the illustration is removed and the baby is asked a series of questions.
• Graphic task "Beetle". The parent draws a sheet of paper in advance to make cells. Places a beetle figurine in one of them. Then he gives the task - listening to his prompts, move the insect. For example: two cells to the right - then one down - now three to the left and one up. Then the task becomes more complicated: mom immediately names several moves: cell down - two to the left - three up. The child must follow the direction with his eyes and place the beetle in the last cell. You can't move your finger.
• Another good exercise is “Cross out the letter.” The mother gives the baby a text, as well as a task - to find all the letters in it, for example, L and cross them out. When this works out well, you can make it more complicated: find A and L, cross out L with one line, and cross out A with two.
• “Do it as it was.” The figures are laid out in front of the child in a certain sequence. These can be buttons of different colors and colors, toy dishes, cards with images. The child tries to remember the sequence, then turns away, and the mother swaps some two objects. Turning around, the baby must say where the changes occurred.

Games to develop attention should be carried out regularly, only in this case can a positive effect be expected from them. Among the many exercises, you can choose those that your baby likes most and turn to them.

Attention games for middle preschool children

A five-year-old child knows and can do much more than a younger preschooler. He has a vocabulary of 2 thousand words, understands quantitative and qualitative relationships (more - less, stronger - weaker), and perceives verbal instructions. Accordingly, the range of games and attention exercises for preschoolers is expanding.

Exercises based on visual cues

1. Lunch for Matryoshkas . Prepare a set of pyramid rings and a set of sticks of different sizes. They will serve as cutlery for the nesting dolls. Set your child the task of choosing a “plate” and “spoon” for each nesting doll in accordance with its height.
2. Each item has its place . Place 6 or 8 small items in two rows. Let the preschooler carefully look at what objects are and where they are. The child turns away and counts to three. During this time, the adult swaps 2-4 objects. The child will have to return everything to its place again.
3. Hostess . Mix beans, peas and buckwheat in one bowl (a spoonful of each ingredient). The child will have to sort the contents. In the same way, you can mix round, square and triangular buttons, so that the preschooler can then arrange them into three piles. In addition to developing attention, this exercise helps train fine motor skills.
4. Attentive buyer. Prepare several drawings consisting of only lines. But the lines are not chaotic. They are the outlines of images of vegetables and fruits. Intrigue your preschooler by the fact that he came to a grocery store that does not have display cases. The seller will only sell those fruits and vegetables that the child finds in the picture. Example drawing:

Games for auditory attention for preschoolers

1. Name day. Tell your child that it is the doll’s birthday, and guests will soon come to congratulate the birthday girl. Choose 5-6 toys (these are the guests), giving each one a name. The child seats the guests around a makeshift table and treats everyone to tea, addressing everyone by name.
2. Listen to the claps! Agree with the children that they will take a certain pose when they hear the claps. 1 clap – transform into a frog by squatting and touching the floor with your hands; 2 claps – transformation into a stork standing on one leg; 3 claps – free walking. Children move freely around the room and follow commands, listening to the claps.

Attention development games for children's groups

If you conduct classes in a kindergarten, in a classroom, in a lesson, or with several of your children, the following team games will be useful to you.

• The game “Who is after whom” is an excellent way to develop the active attention of children. Divide the team into 2 teams, of 4 people each. Place the teams in 2 lines. Each one must have a driver, with his back to the team. The team is quickly rebuilding. The driver turns around and tries to guess what has changed, who has changed their place. The game continues until everyone on the team tries out the role of driver.
• The game “Edible - Inedible” - for this you will need a ball. It perfectly develops active attention in children. The children sit down, forming a circle. The presenter picks up the ball and throws it into the child’s hands, pronouncing a word, naming something edible or inedible. The neighbor's task is to catch the ball if something edible is named. Or discard if not. The one who spent is out of the game.
• The game “Top Jump” and similar outdoor games have double benefits. They are not only the development of useful skills, but also valuable physical activity. They can be used for a walk, during physical education, for the purpose of comprehensive development. The game is simple - the host says funny phrases. The children's task is to clap if what is said is correct. And jump if not. Examples of phrases: it snows in winter, the leaves are always blue, potatoes are delicious raw, crows fly south in the fall, and so on. The older the children, the more complex the phrases should be.