The Power of Play in ADHD

from the University of Vermont website

It’s no surprise that kids with ADHD like to move.  But the University of Vermont has recently done a study that shows kids who exercise prior to school in the mornings were better able to sharpen their focusing skills and help them follow instructions better even later in the day.  What was the plan?  Researchers had parents provide 31 minutes of exercise to their kids in the morning before school.  The exercise included but wasn’t limited to tag, follow the leader and dancing.  There were 5 different activities included over the course of the 31 minutes.  Another group of kids was given seated craft-oriented tasks for 31 minutes.  The kids who exercised demonstrated better attention and lower impulsivity.  What’s remarkable is that the ADHD group had even better outcomes than kids without ADHD.  The next step in the research is to determine whether exercise can stimulate the release of brain chemicals involved in learning.  Pretty cool!

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