A common question that crosses every parent’s mind is how to keep children focused on one subject for a longer duration of time. Research shows that children (5-6 years of age) today have a decreased attention span of only 10-15 minutes. Younger children have an even lower attention span. In order to keep attention on a particular subject, kids need to be motivated, interested and engaged. Keeping lessons short and interspersed with physical activity of some sort keeps kids engaged in the lesson. Over the last 5 years, interest in audiovisual books for children has garnered huge interest in India. Parents and even top schools are using audiovisual books to read to kids. This is mainly because research shows that audiovisual books not only keep children engaged for longer but also help in improving their attention span with time.
Audiovisual books can help in increasing attention span in children in the following ways:
Visual images not only make a story more interesting, they also make the story more real which helps kids in understanding the story better. Greater understanding leads to sharper attention. Showing animated videos or images as part of stories has been scientifically proven to be more effective than just talking about it. For example- showing children a video of a lion roaring will help them connect better to the sound and actions involved. FunDooDaa Books has a host of audiovisual stories based on interesting characters. Stories like “In Bon Bibi’s Forest”, “Little Razia Races Ahead” etc with excellent visual imagery and animations make the stories and characters look real. This as a result, leads children to follow in the character’s footsteps and behave in a similar manner. As Maria Montessori once said, “do not tell them how to do it. Show them how to do it and don’t say a word. If you tell them, they will watch your lips move. If you show them, they will want to do it themselves”.
Sound effects play a very important role in grabbing children’s attention. Whether it’s the sound of birds chirping or raindrops pouring down a window, sound brings out the true essence of a story by making it sound more real. Children as such easily connect with the story when they hear familiar sounds. These effects also make it easier for them to understand the flow of the story and as a result enhances their concentration ability. Children pay more attention to sound effects as it sets the mood and create the perfect ambiance for the story.
Narration style is extremely important when it comes to audiovisual stories. The narration weaves the entire story and gives it meaning. It’s not just the story and characters that hold charm for children. It’s the way a story is told that makes it engrossing for kids. By changing tonality as and when required and by using external sound effects, a narrator can effectively hold children’s imagination captive. A lot depends upon it to engage children and therefore increase their attention span. However, great narrators are few and far between, and therefore audiovisual stories that are available on kids’ apps like FunDooDaa Books are a great way for parents to find a substitute.
Today, the benefits of audio-visual stories for kids have been highly appreciated by various institutions. Schools are adopting this method of teaching as they find that students learn better through audio-visual communication. Audiovisual books not only help in increasing attention span, but they also assist children in developing listening skills, understanding complex language and most importantly audiovisual stories help children in learning punctuation, enunciation and emphasis- all of which bring out the meaning of a text.
FunDooDaa Books has a huge range of audiovisual books for children between the ages of 2-8 years. These stories also have fun and educational interactive activities to keep children engaged for a longer period of time. Download the Fundoodaa app today.
