Brain Exercises
for Kids with ADHD
These easy, fun brain ex ercises
provided by child psychologist,
r. Robert
yers can help improve
ex ecutive function in children with
AD
. Try them out during your
child’ s focus breaks.

1. S tory Based Games. To play these
games, all you need is a good story
and a good imagination. There are
two versions of the game that you
can try:
Read a short story and give
the child a “pop quiz” on the
content. Start off by reading a paragraph or
two from a story.

ex t, ask your
child to come up with what he
thinks might come nex t. Provide
guidance to keep the content
connected to the original story.

Then, you can add your take on
what happens after your child says
what he thinks happens nex t. If
possible, keep trading back and
forth and see what happens.

This helps with building
working memory and
concentration. It can also help
in the development of logic
and sense of humor.

2. Ma es. You can find ma es
appropriate for the age of your child
for free online, such as krazy dad.

com/ma es. Start off with easy ones
and move forward. Keep track of
speed and errors.

f course, don’ t
forget to praise improving scores!
This is great for concentration,
planning, sequencing,
processing speed and visual-
motor integration.

3.

ancing Sequence Games. There
are various versions to select from,
depending on your child’ s age and
what he or she likes. These games
can be played on various video
game platforms, including
box 360,
Wii and Play Station 3.

ou will also
need to purchase the dance mat that
goes with your system.

These games can improve
concentration, processing speed,
planning, sequencing and motor
integration. Added bonus: T hey
can also be a good form of aerobic
ex ercise.

multiplication, division, addition and
subtraction. It is supposed to help with
recalling the order of operations in
complex math problems.

The struggle that students with AD
have with math problems that require
them to conj ure up the correct order of
operations has to do with their working
memory and ability to maintain focus
throughout the multiple problem
solving procedures.

Solution? Make it visual
ave your student highlight math
signs and symbols.

ake colored pens,
markers and highlighters your kid’ s
best friend by encouraging him or her
to color or highlight the sign, –, +, =,
, and
o f each problem.

AD
itude
agazi ne recommends
highlighting math signs because it is a
visual reminder to the student of the
kind of math operation needed to solve
the problem.

It may also be helpful in downtime to
allow use of mobile math apps that
work on the topic with which your
child is struggling. These tend to be
effective because of the very high level
of visual engagement kids have with
video games and screen time.

Struggle 3: Staying focused
enough to finish the problem
Aside from issues with working
memory, issues with focus are why
students with AD
tend to struggle
with math problems. Staying intently
focused on a single task takes a ton of
mental energy, which often con icts with
the desire that many kids with AD
have for constantly changing stimulation.

This is why completing a mathematical
proof, a complex word problem or a
problem involving intricate problem
solving procedures can seem out of
reach for your child.

Solution? Focus breaks
ave your child take a focus break.

Focus breaks are
m inute breaks
when the student steps away from his
homework, even if it’ s in the middle
of a long mathematical problem, and
does something unrelated to his work.

This might be spending a few minutes
on the phone, playing fetch with the
dog or better yet, a brain exercise to
improve your child’ s focus.

By using these strategies, children with
ADHD can feel much more confident
in their studies and strengthen their
math foundation.

For over nine years, Christine Rosenfeld
tutored students from Pre-
to college
at Educational Connections
utoring. it o ce i air a , VA a d et e da,
MD, Educational Connections’ tutors
travel to students’ homes to help improve
t eir co de ce a d rade t ro
1- to- 1 tutoring and organiz ation/ time
management coaching.

washingtonFAMILY.com October 2018
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