Focus - Game

Research has shown conclusively that the two treatments that are most effective in improving attention spans for children diagnosed as ADD or ADHD are medication and behavior modification.

Focus is a game that children have fun playing. It is structured to encompass the essential elements of behavior modification and designed to have the greatest positive impact on attention. In behavior modification children receive specific positive reinforcement for accomplishing a task within an appropriate time frame and without being distracted. The rewards are usually in the form of tokens. This game provides two ways for players to win tokens – with or without a distraction.

A player can elect to perform the task without distraction and win one token or with distraction and win two tokens. Distractions are the most common reason people lose focus on the task at hand. This game gives players much needed practice that improves their ability to stay focused on tasks, even with distractions.

There are both competitive and cooperative versions of the game and to cover a wide grade range there are three decks of Task cards with varied levels of difficulty: easier, regular, and challenge. The key is for the players to be able to complete the task most of the time if they concentrate and are not distracted. Difficulty of the tasks can also be varied by imposing a time limit and permitting the use of paper and pencil for certain tasks.

Learning Objectives - Players:

• Improve their ability to stay focused on tasks until they are completed
• Learn to do a better job handling frustrations
• Learn to anticipate distractions and create strategies to overcome them
• Learn the benefits and rewards of focusing
• Learn to tune out distractions and keep focused