Health & Fitness
Get Kids Attention with a Few Simple Words
Getting a group of kids to pay attention is really not that hard. You just need to know what to say in order to lure them to stop talking to each other and listen to you. Here are some tips.
When I recently attended a 5-year-old birthday party, I realized that my routine workplace skills in the CREST After School program can really come in handy. It came to light when the mother of the birthday girl tried to round up the group of 20 cake-infused children for the next activity. Her efforts were unsuccessful. As a professional, I had to step in.
“If you can hear me, clap once!” I shouted. Clap, clap responded a dozen kids. “If you can hear me, clap twice!” This time, all the kids stood facing me, full attention, clapping their hands. “If you can hear me, put your hands in the air … and wave them like you just don’t care!”
A few giggles later, the room was silent. Parents were in awe. The kids were ready to listen. Mom Host jumped in, gave directions and the kids were off to the next activity.
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“That was amazing!” many other moms all commented.
Not really. Just practice. I use attention getters every day in my job working with elementary school kids. Group management is essential in my line work and I wanted to share with you some other useful attention getters.
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The adult says in a loud voice, “One, Two, Three. Eyes on Me” – kids respond “One, Two, Eyes on You!”
Another option is a combination of words. For example tell the group, “I say Sonic, you say “Boom” then shout out “Sonic” and the kids respond with “Boom!”. Repeat that a few times and see how quiet the group becomes!
If you turn things into a game, kids automatically respond. Give it a try and let me know how it goes.
