ENDORPHINS
The Key to Effort and Focus in Children and Teens
It’s that time of the school year – when kids want to do anything except learn! It seems as if their lack of focus on their homework, studying for tests, and even in class grows more and more every day with the end of the school year just a few shorts weeks away. So what can we do that can counter effect this lack of focus? We can help our children’s bodies release endorphins – the “feel-good” chemical in our bodies.
Endorphins are natural chemicals produced in the body to reduce pain and boost happiness. They are most often associated with exercise – but they’re also boosted through laughter and excitement.
In recent years, studies involving endorphins have begun to focus on how this chemical contributes to learning. Physical activity is essential to brain development. Basically, when we feel good, we focus better and in turn, learn more. For the last five years, neuroscientists have been encouraging parents and teachers to work on stimulating the endorphins
When working with children and teens, it’s important to remember this and help develop the whole self. By stimulating the positive neurotransmitters in the body, we combat the cortisol – what produces are stressful feelings – and, therefore, have more happy children and teens. Physical activity leads to happiness, happiness leads to better learning, better learning leads to increased knowledge, increased knowledge leads to more confidence and so on.
So, the next time your children are having trouble maintaining that focus needed for the last few days of school work, here are a few tips and tricks to help them out:
- Do a physical activity before homework. Toss a ball around. Ride bikes to and from school. Play hide and seek or tag. Any type of physical activity that makes your kids out of breath, increases their heart rate, and makes them sweat a bit, will work!
- Make it a fun! Instead of counting out reps by numbers, we often count by colors, fruits, or even types of candy. Even better – have your kids come up with what to count with.
- Have a dance off! Nearly every child knows those crazy Fortnite dances. See who can out dance each other!
By utilizing these techniques, the endorphins in your kids’ brains will flow! They’ll feel better and learn better. The combination of having more energy and being cognitively stimulated leads to more effort and focus! And moms and dads – if you join in, you’ll see these benefits, too!