How long can a 3-4 year old focus on an activity?

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polo-d , Parent asks:

i have a PRE-K activity book for my son and we work on it from time to time. it has various skill activities for learning and he gets to color. I would like to know the maximum amount of time i can work him up to i would like at best 30mins but if it should be less it is okay.

In Topics: Kindergarten readiness, Preschool, Cognitive development

> 60 days ago

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Louiseasl

Aug 22, 2010

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What the Expert Says:

Hello and thank you for writing to JustAsk!

While there is no "hard rule" for how long a child can sustain attention at 3-4 years of age, conventional wisdom says between 10-20 minutes. Usually, it will depend on how engaging the activity is. Keep in mind that daycare and preschool setting usually have segments of 20 minutes for structured activities and about 30 minutes for unstructured (lunch, recess).

Regards,

Louise Sattler, NCSP
Nationally Certified School Psychologist
Owner of Signing Families

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dgranberry

Jan 6, 2010

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In my opinion, it depends on your child. A general range is no less than 10 minutes no more than 20. Some 3 and 4 year olds are very mature and are able to sit for longer than that but in many cases, after 20 minutes, start to lose interest in the activity. Also, they may not retain what you expect them to learn from the activity. I am a teacher for 3 - 5 year old Deaf children and even though we are using various techniques to keep their attention, most of the time after 20 minutes, they are ready to move on to something else, unless it is free play time. During that time they will play for almost an hour if you let them, but will jump from one activity presented to another.

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Additional Answers (2)

kripp5911 writes:

A 3 or 4 year old will focus on a subject for about 20 to 30 minutes. maybe more or maybe less I don't know the exact amount of time, but that's about how long.

> 60 days ago

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karanu writes:

A child of 3-4 year cannot concentrate more than 10 to 15 mins.However you carry out the activities in parts and this will also be able to recap the done activity. Make it interesting with some stories or light tappy music

> 60 days ago

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