Practical activities to enable young people to explore the issues behind lack of focus and motivation and to build self-awareness, concentration and coping skills.
Many young people struggle with motivation and an inability to focus, both at school and at home. They often lack the skills to persevere with tasks, to concentrate and to devise solutions to problems, which can in turn lead to a disproportionate reaction to failure, and to challenging behaviours. These young people may be focussing on other matters, for instance worries or anxieties; they may lack self-esteem or confidence in their abilities; or they simply may not have the language skills to understand the tasks they have been set. Some young people may struggle with focus and motivation owing to attachment issues.
The activities begin by addressing experiences that lead to lack of focus, including sensory distractions, memories, fears and anxieties and encourage an understanding of underlying feelings and giving these physical expression, before moving on to an exploration of interests and motivations and new experiences.
Activities Include:
The activities progress from physical and non-verbal, to voice and sound, to art activities and then role-play, story and drama. They provide a practical means of exploring the issues behind lack of focus and motivation and will help to develop more organised, self-aware young people who are better equipped to deal with the challenges they encounter in daily life.
Each activity has a tick box to indicate if it is suitable for children, teenagers or both.
Resources include worksheets and story-sheets which, along with all of the activities, are photocopiable and can be printed from the enclosed CD Rom.
About the Author
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
Part Five
Part Six
Part Seven
Part Eight
Part Nine
Part Ten
Resources
Warm Up Games
Worksheets
Story Sheets
References & Further Reading