by Maggie Downs posted in Life

Having trouble getting your child to perform even the simplest chores or tasks" Send out the Bat Signal.
Seriously, get Batman involved.
New research has found that kids between the ages of 4 and 6 perform better during boring tasks when dressed as Batman, according to this Quartz article.
Building upon past studies, six researchers created an experiment to test how to keep kids on task when faced with the temptation of an iPad (a very real temptation in my own household). The test involved giving 4- and 6-year olds a boring computer task and asking them to do it for 10 minutes. If the kids got bored, they were told they could play a game on the iPad in the next room.

 
Here?s the twist: The children were split into groups, assigned to one of three conditions. The control group was asked to be mindful of their feelings as they went through the boring task and ask themselves, ?Am I working hard"? The second group was asked to access themselves from a third-person perspective, like, ?Is Henry working hard"? But the third group was asked to think about a superhero or well-known character ? like Batman, Bob the Builder, Dora the Explorer ? dress up like the character they selected, and ask themselves, ?Is Batman working hard"?
For the next 10 minutes, the children could move between the boring task and the iPad, but they were all reminded of the importance of the activity and told that it would be helpful to work hard a...