How STEM Building Toys Improve Focus and Attention Span
How many times does your child tell you, “5 more minutes,” when you tell them to put their phone aside or to stop playing video games?
Today, Children are growing up in a world which exposes them to an endless amount of entertainment. Even though technology has its place in the world, many children are exposed to the attractiveness of the content which is available through it, and that is what many parents are worried about.
They have shorter attention spans, frustration with tasks that require patience, and face difficulty focusing on their work without checking their phones, even if there is no message or notification. In this case, lack of intelligence and curiosity is not the problem. The problem is that their minds are unknowingly being trained for speed and not depth.
If you have been looking for a way to reduce your children’s screen time while improving focus, you’re not alone. In this blog, we have broken down how STEM building toys, construction toys for children, and educational robotics kits can rebuild attention span naturally and in a fun way.
How does increased screen time affect children’s attention span?
Videos on every entertainment platform shift to different scenes every couple of seconds, which constantly triggers changes in emotions depending on the type of video being watched. There are instant rewards in online video games, making the child engaged for hours without a break. These kinds of fast-paced visual entertainment condition a kid’s brain for immediate reward.
The result? They have difficulty focusing on a single task, which makes them want to switch to a new thing constantly, giving up faster when something take long term efforts.
But we have a positive note in all of these. Attention span is something which can always be rebuilt.
Can Building Toys Reduce Screen Dependence Naturally?
The solution is simple: Replace. Don’t Restrict. When kids find something which engages them, triggers curiosity and gives them a sense of ownership, they start shifting their attention.
When they successfully create or build something themselves, something that moves or drives, it gives them a sense of pride and a bit of attachment. Of course, this does not happen in an instant; if you give kids a complex built, they might lose interest quickly. It's best to start with a simple yet engaging build, which gives them the satisfaction of constructing a model of something they have seen in real life.
Over a certain period, it becomes a part of their routine, and they want to build different and more complex things, chasing the sense of accomplishment instead of quick entertainment, which they get from using phones and playing online games. The key is not to escape from screens but to gravitate towards creation.
How does STEM Building Toys come into the picture?
Compared to digital entertainment, children have to actively participate in the process when they play with STEM building toys. They require one to put effort, and this results in increased focus in the child.
These toys need a critical thinking process to build a model. Children are required to follow every step perfectly, find the right piece and figure out the way to finish the model without any mistakes. Miss a step, and the structure will not work properly.
These processes develop attentional control and sequential thinking among children, which is an important part of improving their focus and attention span.
What can you do starting today?
Start by replacing the one phone session with Construction toys for kids. Soon, they will get accustomed to certain builds. This is the perfect time to give them models that are more challenging and eventually introduce educational Robotic kits. Using this process gives the children a sense of success and the drive to concentrate and think better to complete these advanced builds.
Sooner or later, the child will have improved focus, patience and creativity, leading them to understand the joy of solving real-world problems.