A Cooperative Project

 If you live in an area where you have space, you can start a garden of any kind, either vegetable or flowers. I would actually recommend planting a flower garden, because vegetables may take up to 80 or 85 days before your plants will yield those vegetables. Remember, however, that you should break the work involved in your garden into many simple steps.

You certainly do not want your preschool child with ADHD to become overwhelmed and lose interest. Very importantly, do not use yourself as a barometer as to when you feel that you have done enough work in the garden. Take a look at your child and see if he gives out clues that he has done enough for one day. Does he look tired? Is he walking around and not focusing?

I would also not recommend growing seeds with preschool children with ADHD because they really need more instant gratification than planting seeds will yield. You can break the planting of the garden into several components so that your child will see the benefits of planting it together. I would like to give you a little bit of advice here: Buy a few extra plants so that if your child does not take the plants out of their containers correctly and they are ruined, you have extra ones to plant. Here are some steps to planting a garden cooperatively.

     Decide on color scheme.

     Choose carefully and decide as to which plants will grow depending on the number of hours of sun that shines on the garden. Make a trip out to the patch of land several times a day where you are growing your plants. Why should you do so? In that way, both you and your child will learn information about how much sunlight that area of land receives per day as well as how much sun and how much shade your plant will receive. (Your child will depend on your horticultural expertise here, or you can always Google your question about the number of hours of sunlight that a certain plant requires!)

     Additionally, choose the size of the plot of land where your plant will grow depending on how much space you are allotting for your garden. You certainly do not want to grow sunflowers in a very small area because they need room to spread out vertically and horizontally! For example, New Guinea Impatiens need some sun and some shade, while the old-fashioned regular Impatiens need full shade. Vincas require full sun but can withstand drying out in hot weather.

     Go to the garden center and choose small plants together depending on your color choice and your size requirements. If you draw up a design format on paper (using symbols that your young child can understand), your child will quickly understand your restrictions. Ask the person who works at the garden center as to the type of soil that you will need, as well as any fertilizer and when to apply it. *Here is an important caveat! Buy plain soil with no included fertilizer so that your child will not be working with any soil with fertilizer in it, which could cause your child to experience an allergic reaction. Only buy fish fertilizer and/or fish/seaweed fertilizer for your plants. They are the absolute best fertilizers and are nontoxic for your child to use.

      Have your child cooperatively help you every step of the way, especially in terms of taking the plants out of the car and putting them in a safe place until you are ready to plant them.

     When you plant, explain to your child how to release the plants Then, show him how to release the plants from each temporary container, and help him to insert the plant into the ground. Tell him how far apart the pots will be planted. Show him how to put extra soil around each plant.

     Tell your child how to water, meaning to water until he sees the water drip down out of the bottom of the plants. If it is possible, avoid getting water on the flowers. (When water gets on the flowers, they will be stained a bit.)

     Finally, give your child praise as to how well he cooperated with you to plant the flowers.

     Each day, take your child to view the plants and talk about the changes that you both see. In fact, you might even want to graph the changes in a picture format so that your preschool child with ADHD can see the changes overtime.

If you live in the city and do not have room for so many plants, you can still execute this intervention. If you have room for a medium size to a large pot, go through the same steps as above, except for designing the garden, of course.

SHOULD YOU PERMIT YOUR PRESCHOOL CHILD WITH ADHD TO ENGAGE IN SCREEN TIME? (FOLLOWED BY AN EXAMPLE OF A GREAT APP!)

You have probably observed that your preschool child with ADHD needs stimulation and is always looking for something to do, which in many cases involves a screen. Therefore, it may be your cell phone, an iPad, a tablet, a computer, or a television. Do parents (including me!) employ these screens as a respite from the behavior that our children exhibit that is negative or socially inappropriate? Absolutely! Who could blame you? No one! What is the influence of screens on preschool children with ADHD? Screens offer preschool children with ADHD the opportunity to hyperfocus, or to lock in with intense concentration. These children need stimulation, and rewards and screens satisfy these needs. Preschool children with ADHD may become what I call “zoned out,” whether they are watching a television show or playing a game on an iPad. You may be confused by the term “hyperfocus” and ask yourself, “What is she talking about? My child has difficulty focusing so how can she be talking about an intense focus?”

Hyperfocus is the ability to zero in intensely on an interesting project or activity for hours at a time . . . the tendency for children and adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD or ADD) to focus very intently on things that interest them. At times, the focus is so strong that they become oblivious to the world around them (Flippin, 2005, np).

Have you called your preschool child with ADHD to a meal, or asked him a question when he just stares ahead and does not answer you? Children and adults with ADHD have difficulty shifting attention from one thing to another. If they’re doing something they enjoy or find psychologically rewarding, they’ll tend to persist in this behavior after others would normally move on to other things. The brains of people with ADHD are drawn to activities that give instant feedback (Barkley, 2005, np). Preschool children with ADHD appear to exhibit less hyperactivity and/or inattentiveness during a period of hyperfocus, which typically occurs when they watch a television show, play a computer game, or a game on their iPads. Is hyperfocus a good thing? It is advantageous to intensely focus on completing a puzzle or building an intricate Lego structure. Many young children play iPad games or watch television. However, there may be damaging effects of these screen-involved activities depending on the length of time that they are engaging in them. There is much research that indicates that there may be some negative side effects as related to your children using screen time.

As your child grows, keep in mind that too much screen time or screen time that is of poor quality has been linked to:

• Obesity
• Irregular sleep schedules and shorter duration of sleep
• Behavioral problems
• Loss of social skills
• Violence
• Less time for play (www.mayoclinic.org, 2017, np)

A better goal for the parents of preschool children with ADHD for their child is to build their child’s creativity and independent play, which they are not going to do while he is concentrated on a screen.

If your child is sitting on the couch staring at the television show, or playing a game on an iPad, is he using his mind for creative play? My opinion is probably not, though there is room for some imagination when a child is accessing apps. I am not advising you to never permit your child to have screen time. Instead, I am saying that it would be smart on your part to limit the time that your child spends on screens, as well as make sure that he independently plays. Just to explain a bit more about the negative effects of your preschool child with ADHD spending time on screens: When your child is involved with screen time, he is inactive. Radesky and Christakis (2016) found that “heavy media use during the preschool and early school-aged years is associated with increases in body mass index(BMI)”(p.834).Therefore, if your preschool child with ADHD is involved with screen time, make sure that he gets some regular exercise as well to counterbalance his inactivity.

That being said, why would you introduce your preschool child with ADHD to apps? Why would you not just have your child play with typical toys? As I have said before, preschool children with ADHD, especially those who are hyperactive, need stimulating materials and activities to grab their attention. Therefore, apps for preschool children with ADHD are worth trying if you think that these children will be successful at them. They should be colorful and interesting to your child, however, accompanied by pleasing sounds and positive reinforcement.

There are two caveats, however. The first caveat is to be aware at all times of what app your child is accessing and what activities are included in the app. I know that parents have so much to do each day, especially those who work. However, please supervise your preschool child with ADHD on whichever device you choose for him to use. If you are not available to supervise your child, please have another adult oversee him.

Additionally, you need to make sure that the activities on the app are just challenging enough to be interesting yet not too challenging to be frustrating to your child. The second caveat is to be aware of advertising that maybe embedded in some Android apps.

Finally, set up some sort of timer and manage the time that your child spends watching television or playing a game on an iPad or a computer. Do not permit your child to watch more than one hour a day or play an app or a game on an iPad more than one hour a day.

Just remember how young your preschool child with ADHD may actually be in terms of being at an immature developmental level as a result of his ADHD.   Shaw et al.’s (2007) research was definitive about the immature developmental levels of children with ADHD. In addition, make sure to read the policy statement written by The American Academy of Pediatrics in terms of the recommended restrictions of the use of digital media for young children. That being said, here is a great app that you might want your child to try!

One Great App for your Child to Access

Breathe, Think, Do with Sesame (Apple/Android)

I highly recommend this app, which I truly love! It teaches problem solving of everyday problems such as the child being frustrated putting his shoes on, not wanting to separate from his mommy when he goes to school, becoming upset when the building he made fell down, being impatient when he has to wait his turn to go down a slide, and being afraid of the dark when he goes to sleep. Before I forget to tell you, you can listen to this app either in Spanish or English, which is a real plus.

The app opens and shows a friendly monster, whose name is Mando, telling your child to choose an activity. When he taps on an activity, the narrator explains the monster’s problem. Then he tells the child to tap on the monster’s belly to help him to put his hands on it. As the monster does so, the narrator states that he is taking three deep breaths, which helps him to calm down.

As the monster calms down, the narrator tells the child to think of a plan to solve his problem. In order for the child to do so, he is told to pop bubbles with thoughts of planning in them, so that the monster can think of a plan. After the child pops the bubbles, which he just does by tapping on each bubble, he is shown a plan of action that the monster may take. When he is finished popping the bubbles, the monster has decided upon three plans of action to solve his problem, which the narrator goes over again at the end of each problem-solving example.

Therefore, the child has three possible plans from which to choose, which the narrator states again and has the child make a decision as to which plan to choose. The bubbles come up, accompanied by very pleasant, light music somewhat like a triangle or a xylophone. At this point, the child is shown the importance of developing a plan again and how to make one, including beginning with taking three deep breaths. He tells your child to breathe, think (of a plan), and do (carry out) the plan. The instructions continue with the monster experiencing another problem. The same instructions follow for each of the monster’s problems. The instructions are the same, so therefore are predictable, which is perfect for a preschool child with ADHD who does best with routines. This is executive function exemplified!

Another great part of this app is the parent’s section, which is easily accessible by dragging the rectangle to the lower-right-hand corner of the iPad. Parents are offered tips and strategies for everything from strategies for persistence and coping with separation to other tips about issues that are not included in the apps, such as adjusting to a move and managing sibling rivalry. This is just awesome!

There is also a Let’s Breathe option that is explained in more detail within the app. Finally, and really the best part, is a section where you can encourage the monster to think of plans using your child’s own voice! Just amazing! What a great innovation!

Here is a fabulous bonus! If you go to www.sesameworkshop.org,you can access (for free!) videos of characters learning to be patient, not giving up, and saying bye-bye for now. For example, when you listen to the videos, a character talks in a rhythmic way, offering your child examples of what to do when he is waiting so that he can remain patient. There is simply no negative that characterizes this app for preschool children—with supervision, of course!