Active attention playtime (for young children ages 2-
Active attention playtime is time a parent spends with his child and provides the
child with focused nonjudgmental attention, consisting of 15-
The parent should give no directions, advice, or quiz-
The analogy used to explain this type of narration is that of a sportscaster describing a game; the idea is to verbalize, with interest and occasionally some excitement, the details of the action. For example: “Oh, you’re having the girl dinosaur jump up and down. Now the mother dinosaur comes over and gives a big roar—look at that!”
Let your child choose the play activity for him or herself. During active attention play time, the parent accompanies the child in play activities that the child chooses. The parent lets the child play freely, watches what the child does, shows interest in the activity, and makes supportive comments. That’s all there is to it. Active attention playtime is a simple activity, but it can be a bit tricky at first, so here are some pointers to follow:
- Provided by one parent to one child. Siblings need to be occupied doing something else.
- Takes about 15-
20 minutes to do. At first, try to do this almost every day with your child. After a while, 3- 4 times per week would be good. If that is impossible, the rule of thumb would be: the more, the better. - Can be done with most play activities (although watching TV and computer games do not work). The best activities allow children to use their imaginations, so competitive games like checkers are not ideal. Playing freely with toys like blocks, dolls, puppets, trucks and art materials (drawing, clay modeling) works the best.
- When you are ready to begin the activity, address your child by saying something like: “Now it’s our special time to play together. What would you like to do?” Or, if your child is already engaged in an appropriate activity you can simply join in.
- Your role is to verbally describe what your child does. It is like being a sportscasters
describing what happens in baseball or basketball game—giving a moment-
to- moment description of what takes place as the action unfolds. Your tone of voice should be interested, curious and occasionally, when something important happens in the play, a bit excited. Here are examples of the type of comments you can make:
“You’re getting the baby doll dressed.”
“Those giraffes sure are jumping around!”
“This looks like it’s going to be a big building.”
- Do not give commands, directions, or even suggestions, and do not criticize what your child does. Just follow your child and see where he or she goes with the play.
- Occasionally say something positive that will help your child feel good about playing together. Extravagant praise is not necessary; just be honest and express your appreciation of this time together. For example:
“Oh, you’re drawing a picture of a family playing a game.”
“This is nice, playing together like this.”
“You’re doing a good job of taking care of the baby lion.”
- If your child misbehaves, give a verbal redirection once. If that does not work, and the misbehavior continues, announce that activity is over and you will play again in the future when his or her behavior becomes appropriate. Then, deal with the misbehavior as you generally do.
- Active attention playtime should be provided even when a child has consequence obligations due to misbehavior. Remember, this is a therapeutic intervention; therefore it can interrupt serving consequences. Use your best judgment to decide when to use it should your child have consequences to serve.