Short Attention Spans

[tater03]

I have a son who is five years old. He is currantly going to preschool. My problem is that he has a very short attention span. It is driving me nuts. I have no problems playing and spending time with him in the least but whenever we start something we get it all set up and he plays for maybe ten minutes and then he is bored and done. Is this normal and how do you deal with this problem? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

[happy2bg33k]

My four year old was like this for a while and it drove me nuts too. Then I re-evaluated the toys we had for him and realized he didn't have a lot of toys that encouraged imaginative and solitary play. We'd just not really upgraded his toys as he got older. So we slowly added more toys like the Fisher Price Imaginext castle and small legos. He plays by himself for hours now, making up stories and building stuff.

[mamab]

I think it's pretty normal. Both of my boys were that way. They gradually grow out of it.

You know, you really can't blame them. I mean, look at tv. Just get into a show and after 10-15 minutes, they shove commercials down your throat. You're forced to change your focus, time and time again. It's no wonder people don't have long attention spans, much less kids!

[SageMother]

It seems that boys tend to have a shorter attention span than girls of the same age. Boys don't really get a longer span until they are about 6 or 7. Before that they go from one thing to another pretty quickly, unless it is the type of play that involves alot of running, jumping, and action based imagination.

[happy2bg33k]

I also think sometimes its a matter of them finding a couple of things that interest them to stick with. During the winter months my son is bouncing off the walls but when he can outside and ride his bike, etc. I don't see him changing activities as often.