How to Increase Attention Span

Have you ever had a caregiver ask, “Can we not play so much in therapy?”
It might catch you off guard—but there’s often a deeper need behind that question… like how to increase attention span.

Recently, during a re-evaluation for one of my sweet little clients, Annie, her mom asked that question. At first, I was a little stunned— play is  what we do in speech therapy for toddlers! Play is a huge part of supporting development.  But instead of getting defensive or brushing it off, I asked a few open-ended questions to dig a little deeper.

And, friend, I’m really glad I did.

It turned out that what Annie’s mom really wanted wasn’t less play—she wanted more of something else. She wanted advice on how to increase attention span! Once we had that clarity, the whole direction of our session shifted.

If you want to hear the full story, head over and listen to this post where I break it all down.

Today, I share a few takeaways that might help you manage similar moments with caregivers—or even with yourself.

Managing Expectations

Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither are attention spans. So, the goal of our next session wasn’t to overhaul everything. It was simply to complete a single, semi-structured activity to begin increasing Annie’s attention span.

Instead of open-ended free play, I offered Annie a choice between three familiar activities:

A farm puzzle with big knobs
A farm animal sound puzzle
A farm animal pop up book

She chose the knob puzzle. I removed all the pieces and asked her to help me put them back.

Cue overwhelm.

What felt like a simple task [for me] was too much in that moment for Annie. Honestly? That’s totally okay. For this session, and considering her development, completing the puzzle was about finding out where she is to give us a starting point.

This session was not about how Annie’s mom or I thought the task should go. This session was about following Annie’s lead. It was about building her confidence in her own skills, encouraging her to participate, and doing something that motivated her.

That is how to increase attention span.

I did a quick pivot. To reduce the stress and manage expectations, I put some of the puzzle pieces into place.

Reduce the Stress

I put all but 3 pieces of the puzzle back together- just enough to keep the task challenging, but doable. If 3 pieces had proven to be too much, I would have left 2. The goal isn’t to “push through” the task. It’s to build trust and keep her engaged with me and the activity.

I also acknowledged Annie’s feelings in the moment: “Oh no! Does this feel like a lot? Let me help you. We can do this together!”

Then, I modeled how to do the puzzle [reducing the stress], talking about each piece. After showing her where the cow, goat, and pig went, I handed her a piece and gave her the opportunity to try.

She finished the puzzle—and we celebrated like crazy.
(Yes, this totally counts as completing a task. Progress is progress.) From there, she happily explored the pop-up book, practiced animal sounds, and played with bubbles. She even returned to the puzzle later and completed it entirely on her own. Talk about increasing attention to task!

Real Talk

Let’s talk about what this session looked like in real time.

• Puzzle activity: ~3–5 minutes [including the meltdown]
• Book + bubbles: ~10 minutes
• Parent coaching while child played: ~15 minutes

My sessions are 30 minutes long, but I don’t expect toddlers to stay engaged with me for that entire time. Instead, I squeeze in little moments of focus, offer breaks, while following the child’s lead.

Sometimes you get 5 minutes of direct engagement. Sometimes it’s 15 off-and-on. Either way, those minutes matter. And with consistency, they grow.

When you approach your therapy sessions with flexibility, intention, and compassion, play becomes a tool—not a distraction.

✅ Set realistic expectations for yourself, the child, and their caregiver
✅ Modify or switch up tasks to reduce overwhelm
✅ Celebrate the wins!
✅ Follow the child’s lead
✅ Look for progress, not perfection!

If you want to dive deeper into this story and how I handled it in real time, be sure to check out the podcast episode (check it out at the top of the page!)

Your work matters friend, and in case no one told you today, you’re doing a great job!