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Encourage Play
Connection leads to step two in the cycle of excellence — play.
Play is any activity that engages an ADHD child’s imagination and makes his mind light up. You can 'play' while making your bed, imagining the sheets to be ghosts or the walls of billowy caverns. You can 'play' at solving a geometry problem, as you tinker with one proof after another until the most elegant one pops out. You can even 'play' picking up dog poop in the backyard, as my son, Tucker, does. He races with our Jack Russell terrier, plastic bag in hand, picking up one pile after the next.
When children play, they discover the world and what kind of mind they have, what they love, and what they want to do more of. They grow. They develop feelings of “I can do it” and “I want to do it,” the feelings of looking forward to tomorrow. Such feelings are strong predictors of a happy life, far more significant than top grades or trophies won on sporting fields.
Step Three: Encourage Practice
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