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Fun with purpose is what we’re all about.
Watch this video with your child – it’s all about the fun.
You’ll be receiving your eye tracker shortly
The Attention Arcade games can only be played with an eye tracker. That’s how they train attention skills. Before your eye tracker arrives, you can review some of the games with your child. Here is a link to an overview of the games and assessments in the Attention Arcade. It explains how the games work and what they train. Plus, there are some tips for ensuring your child gets the most out of playing.
Overcoming resistance
Once you receive your eye tracker, install the software and calibrate the tracker, install the BrainLeap software and get all ready to go… you may find you have one more hurdle. Your child.
You’re in good company. Many people of all ages don’t like to be told what to do. What we’ve found is that, when calibrating the eye tracker, most kids get really excited about a new way to control the computer and jump into the games with less reluctance than the lead-up would suggest.
From one of our parents: “We didn’t make it that big of a deal when we came back to try the games the second time. It was a better strategy to let Mikey discover the powers of the eye tracker than for us to tell him how cool it was going to be.”
Getting technical help
If you have any trouble installing the software or the eye tracker, call (858-223-6303) or email us directly (you can respond to this email). We’re here to help. 95% of parents go through the process without a hitch. The other 5% get the help they need and we get them going in a few minutes on a call.
Step 1: Install the Tobii Eyetracker
Step 2: Download the Attention Arcade
Step 3: Install the Attention Arcade
Hopefully your child is now playing the Attention Arcade games every day for 20 minutes. We know from experience that that is not always as easy as it sounds.
The Attention Arcade trains attention so the more attention challenges a child has, the more challenging the first few game play sessions may be.
From a parent: “Ella’s eye just bounce all around the screen. We thought it was the tracker but her brother tried and had no trouble at all. It’s really tiring for her, she can only manage about 10 minutes right now.”
Don’t give up.
If your child finds it challenging, 10 minutes a day for the first week is a great way to start. The long game is more important than hitting that 20-minute mark the first week. It does get easier… and quickly!
Some strategies we’ve seen that are successful:
Create a habit. Sometimes, it is just hard to make sure your child plays every day. So, it is good to create a habit by tying it to something else they do everyday (e.g. play as soon as you finish breakfast) or at a specific time every day.
Follow the schedule. Print out this training schedule to show your child how they should be training each day. Sometimes, clear expectations are enough to get them playing regularly.
Tie it to a preferred activity. Make it a step before they get to do something they enjoy. For example, they need to play for 20 minutes before they get any other screen time.
Reward consistent play. Set a reward for when they play 5 days in a row (this is often a big milestone for children who have challenges with eye control) or a specific total time, which is tracked in the game suite.
We all have skills that are easier and harder for us to acquire. For example, some kids can do a cartwheel on the first or second try. For me, it took a lot of practice to do something that even resembled a cartwheel. The good news is that with practice, children can develop and strengthen skills, including attention.
Regular practice is at the core of your child’s success. That is why we developed a schedule to keep them on track. I suggest that you print it out and keep it next to the computer where they play the Attention Arcade.
You will notice there are recommended times to play each game each day. This is because some children prefer to only play games that are easy for them. This does not help to train their attention skills as much as playing the games that are more challenging. That is why we recommend a balanced approach to playing the games.
The sooner your child starts playing regularly, the faster you can start seeing results. And the good news is that the habit of sticking to a schedule is one of the executive function skills that attention improves! It will get easier with practice.
We’re here to help. Tell us your stories of success and struggle. Join our Facebook group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/582404385726222/ The group is private, so just request to join and we will let you in!
Let me know if you have any questions or challenges. You can respond to this email or call us at 858-223-6303.
Check out some of our articles on attention challenges…
“My son has always had trouble looking me in the eye when I wanted to have a serious conversation with him. Last week, when I told him to look in my eyes, He said, ‘Just like in the arcade.’ He can do it easily now.”
“It helped him a lot with him being able to focus in the classroom. He can look at the teacher and focus more on what she is saying, which keeps him more engaged in learning.”
“The immediate result was definitely better focus on homework tasks. But what I noticed overall was an improved ability in his executive functioning (something he has struggled with): he was able to organize his thoughts and his tasks better and had the ability to multitask without losing his original train of thought.”
“Both my sons report improved hand-eye coordination, focus, attention and tracking. In particular, they found that their peripheral vision improved which facilitated driving and blind spot detection.”
“Students love it so far. Some of them think they have superpowers!”
“This is a great way to help my son increase his attention and focus. In a few weeks, we could see how he was able to stay on task for longer periods of time.”
“The students love it!”
The assessment tasks are best used to measure a player’s improvement from one assessment to the next. They are not an accurate assessment of attention challenges on their own.
The Attention Arcade™ includes 3 assessments which each measure different aspects of attention. The purpose of the assessments is to show that skills users are developing in the games transfer to skills in the real world.
Buy Now!
$39/mo
Get the BrainLeap™ Attention Arcade games and assessments ready to download and play.
To play the games you need the eye tracker. You can purchase the eye tracker here:
$49/month
Get the Attention Arcade games ready to download and play and the Toobii Eye Tracker shipped to you.
The one-time $100 deposit is fully refundable when you return the eye tracker.