Attention is a specific process of mental activity consisting in selective focus on an object. Simply put, being careful means being able to concentrate on the right subject.
Attention is involuntary. This is a primitive form common to all sentient beings. An example of such attention is the automatic evasion reaction in response to a sudden movement. There is no need to develop involuntary attention. Even an infant easily focuses on an object that evokes an emotional response.
Another thing is to teach the child to concentrate on what is completely not interesting to him. This form is called arbitrary and is a high degree of attention. There are various ways of developing attention, but all of them, one way or another, are playful in nature, which is associated with the peculiarity of child psychology. Playing, children learn the world, others, themselves.
That is why attention development games are so important that form the child’s skills for transitioning from involuntary attentiveness to its free form. Gradually, these types of gaming activities not only develop children's attention, but also help develop the powers of observation that are much needed in the future.
Children of two or three years old can play for a long time, but if necessary, switch to something else. And a child of four to five years old, with proper development, can calmly concentrate already on two or three not very entertaining phenomena.
The development of attention in preschool children is especially important for a child of five or six years old, because he will have to listen to the teacher at the same time, write down what is needed in the notebook, controlling its location and, together with all this, maintain his own posture. All children are different: one needs to repeat something several times, seeking an answer, while others have problems with visualization. Therefore, the selection of the category of games that develop attention is carried out taking into account the individual characteristics of the child.
Games for the development of attention are divided into several types: visual, auditory, motor, depending on which organs are involved more. Here are some examples for each category of games:
Games that develop motor attention.
"Repeat the movement." At the beginning of the game, a movement that cannot be repeated is specified. Then the child copies all the movements of the adult. Except prohibited. And when an adult shows it, the child must have time to react.
"Monkeys." An adult folds a construction from various objects. The child must not only copy it, but also spoof the adult's movements.
Visual games to develop attention.
"Circle the picture." Consistently connecting the points indicated by numbers, the child draws a picture.
"What has disappeared?" The child must remember the location of several objects, and then turn away. An adult rearranges or removes one of them. Turning around, the child should indicate changes.
The development of auditory attention.
"Stomp-clap." An adult pronounces phrases and concepts, randomly alternating right and wrong (yellow snow, sweet sugar, trees dump foliage, etc.). The child responds clapping to the correct statement, stomping to the wrong statement.
"On the table, under the table and knock." The adult gives the command "under the table", and he hides his hands below. “On the table” - puts them out. "Knock" - slams on the table. The child repeats, getting used to. After that, the adult confuses the team (for example, says “knock”, and hides his hands). The child should respond to words, not actions.
These and similar games to develop attention teach the child not only to quickly switch from one type of activity to another (which is very important in our fast-paced life), but also train his memory and stimulate cognitive activity.