Should kids with ADHD move before and during homework?

"Sit still" may be the most-said sentence at homework time in a house with ADHD in it. It is also worth questioning. Two studies suggest that for some children with ADHD, moving before homework and moving during it may help rather than hurt. Neither is the final word, and we say exactly what each one did and didn't show.

Study one: exercise before homework

Researchers tested children with ADHD and children without it, on two separate days (Pontifex and colleagues, Journal of Pediatrics, 2013). On one day each child did 20 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise; on the other, 20 minutes of seated reading. Then they did an attention task while the researchers recorded their brain activity, and short reading and arithmetic tests.

After the exercise, both groups answered the attention task more accurately, and the children with ADHD also showed changes linked to self-control. Both groups did better on the reading and arithmetic tests after exercising than after sitting and reading.

What it can't tell you: this was one 20-minute session, measured straight afterwards, in a lab. It doesn't show how long the effect lasts, whether it builds up over weeks, or that it works for every child. It is not a treatment and does not replace one. What it does suggest is that the usual routine, straight from a day of sitting at school to more sitting at the table, may not be the best way into homework.

Study two: fidgeting during the work

The second study asked a sharper question: is the extra movement in ADHD a problem, or part of how some children cope? Researchers watched 29 boys with ADHD and 23 boys without it, aged 8 to 12, while they did working-memory tasks (holding and reordering information in your head) over four sessions (Sarver and colleagues, Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 2015). They counted how much each child moved during each task.

For the boys with ADHD, more movement went with better working-memory scores, though still not as high as the other boys'. For the boys without ADHD it was the other way round: more movement went with slightly lower scores. Movement didn't change how attentive either group looked.

What it can't tell you: it was a small study, of boys only, using memory tasks in a lab rather than real homework. It found a link within each child's sessions, so it can't prove that moving caused the better scores. It is still a good reason to stop treating every wiggle as the thing to fix.

Why this might make sense

Working memory is the "mental notepad" a child uses to hold step two in mind while doing step three, and it is often under strain in ADHD (we wrote about executive function here). The second study was testing the idea that, for some children with ADHD, extra movement is a way of helping the brain do that work rather than a sign it has stopped. The results fit that idea for these boys; they don't make it a settled fact for every child.

What to try tonight

1. Move first. Before homework, 15 to 20 minutes of something that makes them breathe harder: a brisk walk, a scooter round the block, skipping, a dance video. Then go straight to the table.
2. Allow quiet movement during. A wobble cushion, standing at the kitchen counter, a squeeze ball, a resistance band round the chair legs. The rule is movement that doesn't break anything or distract anyone else.
3. Run a two-evening experiment. One evening with "sit still", one with "move if you need to". Same kind of homework, same time. Note how much got done and how the evening felt. Your child's own result matters more than any study average.
4. Keep the first block short. Movement doesn't fix a task that feels too big to start. Break it into one tiny first step (our post on task initiation explains why that helps), and use a timer they can see.

When to talk to someone

If homework ends in tears most nights whatever you try, that is worth raising with your child's teacher, school counsellor or doctor. A dated note of what you tried and what happened is far more useful to them than "it's always hard". For more on the homework hour, see how to get your special needs child to do homework.

References

• Pontifex, M. B., Saliba, B. J., Raine, L. B., Picchietti, D. L., & Hillman, C. H. (2013). Exercise improves behavioral, neurocognitive, and scholastic performance in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. The Journal of Pediatrics. doi:10.1016/j.jpeds.2012.08.036.
• Sarver, D. E., Rapport, M. D., Kofler, M. J., Raiker, J. S., & Friedman, L. M. (2015). Hyperactivity in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): Impairing deficit or compensatory behavior? Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology. doi:10.1007/s10802-015-0011-1.