When it comes to parenting girls with ADHD, there are some things that can make a massive difference in a child’s productivity in addition to standard treatments such as medication or diet changes.
I’ve talked about classroom-friendly fidget tools before, but this list of products focuses on other items that can help a girl with ADHD succeed in a classroom setting.
Not all products will work equally well for all girls with ADHD, but these are the ADHD tools for the classroom that girls with ADHD use and prefer when trying to concentrate in the classroom and at home.
Try one or two items at a time, and over a few weeks, you’ll soon be able to identify what tools are distractions for girls with ADHD and what tools actually help.
Try sending one or two of these tools with your child to school each day (discuss it with the teacher first, so that the teacher doesn’t take the tools away from your child).
Tips for Making ADHD Tools Work
How to choose the right fidget tools for your daughter
Not every class has the same rules on what is acceptable in the classroom. To go outside of these standard rules, you’ll probably have to prove that your child benefits from the use of the tools. You can ask for a meeting with your child’s teacher and the school’s administrative staff to request special considerations for the needs of your child.
The tools aren’t meant to be “fun” necessarily, just provide an outlet for the child to move around, which for an ADHD child, actually helps improve their concentration. If the tool isn’t doing that, and it’s distracting the child from the lesson, it’s not the right tool for that child.
Want to try non-traditional fidgets? Try these fun DIY fidgets!
In my experience, there are three main ways that a child with ADHD moves around and fidgets in the classroom.
Some kids fidget with their hands, picking at skin, rubbing their hands together, playing with pencils, doodling, tapping the desk, etc.
Another form of fidgeting is bodily movement, where the child wiggles in their seat, bounces a leg, jiggles their feet, stands up frequently, falls out of the chair, and is otherwise distracting with their body movement. This is the form of fidgeting my daughter does most often.
The third kind of fidgeting is oral. Some kids chew constantly on anything they can get their hands on, like pens, pencils, straws, fingers, hair, paper, cloth, or pretty much anything.
Many girls with ADHD will show multiple types of fidgeting behavior, but it’s helpful to know which is the most common for your child before sending them to school with fidgets.
Teachers should provide for all types of fidgeting in their fidget toolkits.
ADHD Tools for Emotion Management
Girls who have ADHD often have BIG emotions because one of the hallmarks of ADHD is poor impulse control.
So, where a neurotypical child might realize she can’t throw her pencil at an annoying classmate or she’ll get into trouble, the child with ADHD goes right ahead and throws that pencil. Then, when asked later *why* she threw the pencil when she got in trouble, she can’t answer, because she really didn’t think at all.
There wasn’t a why, just an impulse. Usually, events like this start a snowball effect of negative behavior, with more punishments, anger, and explosive emotions.
But, if you can give your daughter with ADHD the tools she needs to stop and think before the initial event occurs, then she is better equipped to stop the cycle.
ADHD Tools for Oral Stimulation
Try these ADHD tools if your daughter has a need for oral stimulation.
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ADHD Tools for Tactile Stimulation
Try these ADHD tools if your daughter needs to touch and feel everything.
ADHD Tools for Physical Stimulation
Try these fidget tools if your daughter needs to move.
ADHD Tools that Prevent Distraction
Try these tools if your daughter is easily distracted.
It will typically take time to discover the precise object that will help a girl with ADHD focus the best, but these ADHD tools for the classroom will definitely help you get on the right track.
In addition to the classroom, you can also add some of these products to your daughter’s homework station at home, so they can focus easily during homework as well.
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