Why Your Child’s Attention Span Matters (and 4 Everyday Habits That Support It)

When my daughter had to read a history textbook and outline key ideas for her first high school AP class, she asked me to check her work. So I tackled the reading myself—classic textbook writing dry and wordy enough that I had to work to keep my mind from wandering mid-sentence.

Where my mind wandered, albeit ironically, was to the importance of attention span to successful reading and school success in general. A well-developed ability to sit and focus can be a game-changer for kids from the learning-to-read years to the many reading-to-learn years (which hopefully will last the rest of their lives). It’s crucial from kindergarten alphabet lessons to third-grade book reports to high school coursework, and kids who get distracted too easily will have a harder time at each stage. Yet it’s an ingredient of academic success that can easily fly under parents’ radar.

Sadly, a well-developed attention span may be a strength fewer kids are bringing to the classroom these days. Typical attention spans have been getting shorter in recent decades, according to research into how long people spend on a task before switching to something else. Researchers found that study subjects working on computers now averaged just 47 seconds focusing on a task before breaking to check their emails or something else. In 2004, the average was two and a half minutes.

You may have experienced this shift, whether in yourself (tried watching any old movies lately?) or others (my kids complain that friends can’t maintain a conversation without picking up their phones; I’ve had the same complaint about them).

Luckily, there are ways to support stronger attention. Research shows that certain lifestyle habits can bolster longer attention spans. Below are four habits you can try with your child.

Note: Some kids have medical challenges to attention. If you’re concerned, talk to your child’s doctor and other experts. You can still explore the habits below, too. Research has shown many positives from these habits for both kids with and without ADHD.

Get Them Moving

Getting kids plenty of physical activity provides a healthy outlet for their energy and often makes it easier to engage them in calmer activities afterwards. Research also indicates that regular exercise may have a positive effect on children’s attention and concentration overall—especially activities that get the heart pumping.

Try building exercise into your child’s routine to set them up for better focus, besides all the other physical and mental benefits. In a world of screens and scheduled activities, many kids are getting a lot less exercise than past generations, so it’s worth making a conscious effort to include plenty of movement in kids’ days.

If your child is struggling to settle down for quiet activities, try getting them 15 or 20 minutes of movement first. Get them outside, roughhouse with them, have a dance party, or just challenge them to an indoor jumping contest—whatever you can make happen. Then try again.

It may not take much to help them recalibrate. When my son was about six, he asked me one morning if I ever felt “too strong.” (Sadly: no.) He said he did, elaborating (upon questioning) that he needed to move his body so much that it physically hurt him to hold still. I was horrified to realize he felt that way each morning on his way to a long day of seated lessons. Luckily, he shared that he’d found a solution: He would race at top speed across the schoolyard to his classroom and then was able to hold still and concentrate afterwards. 

Spend Time in Nature

Studies have found that time in green spaces supports healthy attention. If you can get your child outdoors most days, you’ll be building a lifestyle shown to support focus, as well as strong mental health.

Even if you don’t live by a wilderness, just take advantage of whatever natural or green spaces you have access to. Even urban settings or places with a long winter often have parks, botanical gardens, or even indoor gardens or greenhouses where you can spend time with your child.

One helpful routine can be taking kids to a playground or natural area right when you pick them up from school or daycare. This builds outside time and movement into your schedule and can have the additional benefit of easing their transition, potentially lessening end-of-day meltdowns.

Tip: Your child will like nature time more if you let them do whatever they enjoy—climbing, leaping, playing with leaves, or even lying on a picnic blanket and finding shapes in the clouds together. (Just remember that looking at screens outdoors doesn’t count!)

Help Them Sleep & Eat Well

On average, Americans are getting significantly less sleep nowadays than our grandparents did (and our ancestors evolved to need)—and kids are not immune from this trend. 

Recent data documented by the CDC showed that between one-quarter and one-half of children were getting too little sleep, with the results varying by state (southern states showed a higher risk; more than half the kids in Louisiana were underslept). The percentage is even higher in certain subgroups: 60.8 percent of Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander children were sleep-deprived and 53.4 percent of Black children, according to the report. In a much smaller study, just 14 percent of participating kids got the recommended amount of sleep.

This is significant here because sleep deprivation causes symptoms that are almost indistinguishable from the symptoms of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). In fact, neuroscientist and sleep researcher Matthew Walker suggests that perhaps 70 percent of ADHD diagnoses may actually be misdiagnosed sleep problems. Conversely, even for children with ADHD, good sleep has been shown to help their symptoms.

So, to support strong attention for your child, provide them with a sleep-friendly environment and plenty of time to snooze. You can check CDC sleep recommendations for different ages and talk to your child’s doctor for tips. Some children have naturally later or more disrupted circadian rhythms and may need special support.

There’s also evidence that healthy eating can support focus and attention. Preliminary studies have found better attention in kids associated with a lower-fat diet rich in fiber and antioxidants and ADHD in kids associated with more ultra-processed foods, for example.

Use Screens Wisely

Screens offer an endless supply of distractions and fast-paced entertainment that can leave slower analog activities like reading feeling less enticing. They also take up time that kids (and the rest of us) might otherwise spend on exercise, nature time, or sleep.

There are plenty of good reasons to limit kids’ screen time, but there are also qualitative differences in what kids do on screens, how, and when. It’s advisable to keep children off screens as much as possible for the first few years of life.

Once they hit preschool or elementary school, if you decide to indulge in some screentime for your child, try slower-paced shows, gentler nature documentaries, or movement video games like sports or dance games—and enjoy them together. 

Avoid screens in the period right before bed to support better sleep. (Bonus tip: Experts advise never letting kids have screens of any kind in their bedrooms. Keeping all screen use in a shared family space can avoid all kinds of problems now and into the future.)

Perfect is the Enemy of Good

When it comes down to it, the habits that research shows support a strong attention span are also ones that foster good physical health, mental resilience, and an enriching family life. 

That doesn’t mean they’re always easy, or even possible, to implement every day or every week. Life happens. But it does make them a great set of aspirations to work towards, in my book.

My goal is to start with myself. If I can get a little more screen-free time, a little better sleep, or a little more balanced nutrition, everything else falls into place more easily. That makes it all the more manageable to encourage a little more balance for my family, too.

Just remember that the goal isn’t perfection—and flexibility can also cover a multitude of sins when raising children. Think intentionally about your goals for your family, then do what you can to start implementing them in small steps. When life gets in the way (or strong-willed kids do!), don’t beat yourself or your family up over it. After all, every day is another opportunity. 

Coming soon: How to Help Kids Focus: 6 Ways to Stretch Your Child’s Attention Span