Best tips and tricks to get kids’ attention in kindergartens

Today we talk about the best ways on how to get kids’ attention in the classroom but first instead of trying hard to get kids’ attention, let us have a look at your lesson plan and see if there is a place for bringing more fun and games to it. Having fun is the number one factor in any classroom for getting children’s attention. Listed below are the best tips and tricks for teachers to have them listen and focus without shouting

——————–Tips——————

Explain why you need kids’ attention

Teachers need to remind children about the importance of being quiet or paying attention to the teacher. It can be as simple as “everybody listens to me carefully so you can learn how to play the game and win”. It would be helpful as well to let children know they’ll have a chance to talk again or shout during or after the activity.

Use non-verbal cues 

There is a language among all us from infants to adults which are called body language. Almost every kid above 2 years old understands the “Be Quiet” sign. In addition, fingers are good tools for counting time. So use a hand to show “be quiet” and another to count how much time is left for them to stop the noise.
Nonverbal communication doesn’t end to this example. There are hundreds of ways teachers can communicate non verbally and it doesn’t have to be in a certain language system. Being creative for non-verbal cues helps a lot to catch attention better. Come up with your own and teach them non verbally to the class. After a few tries, they’ll get what each action means

Positive reinforcement

Focusing on good behaviors and rewarding those who follow what you asked, is one of the best ways to encourage everybody doing the right thing

An obvious sudden change

A sudden change in a class has an immediate impact on getting every kids’ attention. One example is, a teacher leaves the class and comes back after ten seconds. Or it could be as simple as turning off lights or suddenly stop talking then sit down and stare at whoever is the loudest or naughtiest. Dozen other ways exist specifically for different classes at a different moment. Find out which one works best and try it time to time

——————-Tricks—————–

Call and Responses

Here is a list of traditional call and responses with some recent one. Use this to get an immediate response from children

Are you ready kids?
–Aye Aye Captain

Hocus pocus
–Time to focus!

Macaroni and cheese
–Everybody freeze!

Hakuna
–Matata

Hip hip
–Hooray

Flat tire
–Shhh!

Eyes on me
–Eyes on you

Hands on top
–That means stop

Who you gonna call?
–Ghostbusters

Eyes?
–Open
Ears?
–Listening

If this list is not enough then check out our page call and responses to get instant attention for ESL students for sure there is at least one which you and students like.

Tonality

Monotonic is a good way to bore anyone regardless of their age. But if sleeping is not the purpose of a class, perhaps speaking with combination of high and low pitch would encourage others to listen with a better focus.

Chanting

Chanting with a nice tune can get any kid’s attention. This is very useful when the whole class goes to a mess which by chanting can bring back all the attention at once. You’ll notice how quickly they’ll join to sing. A few popular and easy nursery rhyme here for getting ESL/EFL kid’s attention is How many fingers do you have? and How many fingers? (not the same song). Every time you can chant using different body parts such as hand, foot, etc. We’ll post a blog on the best nursery rhyme soon so stay tuned on the blog side of ESL Archive.
It’s fine if they haven’t learned the song or there are grammar such as “How many” which kids haven’t learned. After a few repetitions not only they learn to chant but understand to fully pay attention to teachers after the song.

Quick charades or any fun games

Yes! you read it right. Charades sometimes work well, especially if teachers are good at acting. Showing your exaggerated frustration by messing your hair and a sad crying face. Next showing quiet sign and bringing a sudden smile to the face would tell kids non verbally what’s going on. If this is too much to act try some random nonsense movements and see how kids react.
As mentioned earlier, an interesting class gathers all the focus and attention. So playing a quick game would calm down ESL kids and set their mind for learning more