5 healthy habits that make a child's observation stronger

Observation skills in children help them to be more attentive, motivated and determine how well they explore and adapt to different situations. Here are the five healthy habits that make a child's observation stronger.

For anyone, learning happens through active experiences. Many focus on learning by doing, especially for younger age groups. Learning by observing others, however, is equally impactful and leaves a lasting impression on a child's mind. For instance, they may learn a new sport or develop curiosity about it by simply observing players. On the flip side, children may pick up age-inappropriate words by noticing how adults act and talk around them. Observational learning helps children be more attentive and motivated, retain learned information for a longer period of time, and determine how well they explore and adapt to different situations, based on the cues they picked up from the environment.

5 healthy habits that make a child's observation stronger(Unsplash)

While trying to boost observational skills in a child, it is important to note that there is no "one-size-fits-all" formula. Research has shown that children are born with sharp observation skills and innate abilities to use their senses. Some factors affecting the development of observational skills are the activities kids engage in, the environment, resources and a combination of social interactions between individuals, peers, and adults.

Talking to HT Lifestyle, Abhijita Gupta, titled the world's youngest writer by the International Book of Records, and a recipient of the Global Child Prodigy Award 2022, shared five healthy habits that can boost your child's observation skills.

1. Encourage questions

Do not discourage critical thinking skills and curiosity, if a child asks many questions. It is natural to be inquisitive at a young age. Answering questions in a simple, understandable manner piques their curiosity even more and makes them explore more.

2. Let them take the lead

Assign children small and simple tasks to develop their leadership qualities and give them room to observe more so that their logical reasoning ability refines.

3. Engaging with the child by talking

Kids pay attention to detail. It can be beneficial if parents communicate with their children and use specific words for all activities used. For instance, being mindful of subtle differences in hues within the same family of colours, such as gold, mustard and lemon yellow, can sharpen observation. Encourage children to describe new experiences, such as a fun day in the park, using all senses: What they saw, felt, smelled, heard and tasted.

4. Read out story books, rhymes and narratives

Children’s brains need adequate stimulation. Reading out stories, and enacting rhymes, and narratives in modulated voices will catch their attention. At the same time, introduce them to picture books and ask them to identify characters in those pictures.

5. Play games that require observation and concentration

For this, parents and teachers can turn to games such as spot the difference, drawing based on memory, chess, various puzzles and also memory game. Ask the children to observe a particular page of any book for 1 min and ask them what was there on the book page.

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