Skill shelf · going slow, holding an instruction · 2 activities
Focus and Self Regulation
Two activities where the whole task is self control: walking a taped line end to end without rushing, and holding three instructions long enough to do all three.
Focus is not something a child sits down and practises. It turns up as a side effect of wanting to do something that only works slowly. Three metres of masking tape with a shoe at each end is a journey rather than a strip of tape, and a two year old walks it carefully because walking it carelessly ends it early. Bare feet, because feeling the edge of the tape underfoot is half of how a small child follows a line at all.
The other one needs nothing. Your voice, a room with things already in it, and three instructions said once, in one breath. The hard part belongs to the adult, and it is not repeating them. That pause is the activity.
Both are short, and short is right. What a child can hold at each age is briefer than most of us expect, and a run that stops while it is still going well is the one that gets asked for again tomorrow.
The two
Younger first. Each line gives the age it suits, the setup and how long it runs.
- Walking the Balance Line Your child walks the length of a strip of tape stuck to the floor, slowly, and then turns round and walks back. 2 min · under 5 min · household only
- Three-Step Instruction Hunt You give three instructions in one breath, and your child goes and does all three, in order, without help. no setup · 3 to 5 min · nothing at all
Neither needs anything bought. One takes a roll of masking tape, the other takes nothing at all.
Six more that ask for the same thing
These are filed under balance, feelings and hands rather than here, but the work in each of them is a child holding themselves steady, which is what puts them on this list. The first four are short and suit two to five. The last two are the long quiet ones: a table, a tray and forty minutes for a six or seven year old.
- Water Pouring and Transfer Your child pours water from one small jug into another, and then back again, and again, until the table is wet. 3 min · 5 to 10 min · household only
- Mirror Feelings Copycat Your child pulls the face on the card, sees it in the mirror next to yours, and hears you name the feeling that goes with it. 2 min · under 5 min · cards you draw
- Straw Blow Ping Pong Race Your child blows a ping pong ball across the table through a straw, and races it to a strip of tape at the far end. no setup · under 5 min · household only
- Blindfold Rope Path Walk Your child follows a rope laid along the floor with her eyes closed, finding the turns with her feet while your voice tells her what is coming. 2 min · 5 to 10 min · household only
- Soap Carving and Safe Whittling Your child cuts a shape out of a bar of soap with a blunt tool, slowly, and the shavings go everywhere. 5 min · 20 to 40 min · household only
- Cardboard Loom Yarn Weaving Your child weaves a small square of cloth on a loom cut from a cereal box, over four or five sittings, and it takes as long as it takes. 15 min, once · 20 min or more · household only