How to Support Kids in Developing Good Habits
It is our responsibility as parents to assist our kids in developing positive habits that will enable them to mature into self-assured, successful, and healthy people. We can prepare our children for a lifetime of success by assisting them in developing positive habits.
We have a significant impact on how well-rounded our children become. We have aided them in developing their current behaviors, whether they are beneficial or detrimental. We built their current routine, and they watch us every day as we imitate our own routines. Thankfully, this duty also provides us with the ideal platform from which to encourage our children to develop positive behaviors.
How to assist your kids in forming positive habits
Have endurance
This is a major issue. Habits don't develop overnight. It necessitates both patience and time. Kids may likely avoid learning if they think that we are getting upset with them when they don't develop a new habit straight away. Any new habit that we strive to form needs to be approached with understanding and patience. Keep in mind that you should move at your child's pace and that the less agitated you are, the simpler it will be for them to form new habits.
Set a good example.
A favorite parenting maxim of mine has always been, "More is caught than taught." Even though we may want our children to adopt good behaviors, they won't if we don't. It's likely that if your child sees you reading, they will want to do the same. They are more likely to delve in enthusiastically if they observe you relishing the vegetables on your plate.
But the inverse is also accurate. There is little possibility that your child will brush their teeth or wash their hands if you never do either. The best way to teach your child a good habit is to set an example for them by acting in that way yourself. Your child might be inspired to try it themselves just by watching you do it.
Establish a routine and a schedule.
Utilizing a current habit as a springboard for a new one is one of the best methods to help your child develop new ones. It's also referred to as habit stacking.
For instance, if your child already has the practice of taking a bath immediately before bed, now is the ideal time to introduce another habit you want them to form. They could be encouraged to begin brushing their teeth either before or after a bath. They'll start to link taking a bath with brushing their teeth, which will make them pick up a new habit much more quickly. A chain of good behaviors can be started by incorporating a new habit, like putting on pajamas and reading a book.
By developing a scheduleCheck, you can also assist them in understanding what is expected of them. The plan can be built around daily occurrences like rising, eating, and going to bed that are largely natural. Creating small routines around certain times of the day can aid in teaching our children healthy routines.
Reward them for their progress.
How soon your children form good habits depends in large part on how often you use positive reinforcement. Even though it is one of my goals to raise children who are motivated by their own interests, rewards can occasionally be useful in turning a behavior into a habit.
You're trying to teach them that they're far more likely to try and repeat that behavior if you get thrilled and reward them when they accomplish it. As you are aware, an action that is repeated often becomes a habit.
I've discovered that it's preferable to avoid giving out tangible rewards like food and toys. Your youngster may develop bad habits in the future if they start to view eating as a reward. Instead, we opt for hugs, enjoyable activities, and true appreciation as rewards.
Review your routines.
There are times when the habits our children have formed only need to be altered. Every habit has a trigger that signals to your child when to start a set routine or activity and a reward when they successfully complete it.
For instance, the cue is flushing the toilet if your child has to be reminded to wash their hands after using the restroom (speaking from personal experience here). Getting out of the bathroom sooner was the benefit of not washing hands. I thus used the same cue—the flush—but came up with a different reward. It made a significant impact when I let him to choose the aroma of soap to use in the restroom. The same cue was used, but a new behavior emerged in response to the new reward. He received hands that smelled the way she intended them to instead of a quick getaway.
Ideas for constructive behaviors you might implement with your children
Although we want our children to cultivate many excellent habits for the future, we should keep things simple and focus on the fundamentals while they are still young. Here are some excellent habits you may instill in your children.
Baths, washing their faces, washing their hands, brushing their teeth, and combing their hair are all basic hygiene practices that you can instill in your small child at an early age to keep them happy and healthy. The best part is that most of these behaviors may be grouped together as a train of behaviors, which will help your youngster remember and adhere to them.
Healthy eating—you may assist your child in forming enduring healthy eating habits by modeling healthy eating for them. The food in our homes is under our control. While they are still young, we must make the most of it! Early exposure to nutritious foods can help our kids develop a lifelong appreciation of their flavor and texture preferences.
Most kids don't require any encouragement to play and run around. By participating in the fun, limiting screen time, and exposing them to a range of sports, you may, however, support this behavior in your children.
It may be challenging to establish new habits with our children at first, but if we are patient and let them develop at their own rate, we will succeed. Most children find learning to be enjoyable, so we just need to capitalize on their excitement to encourage them to develop lifelong positive habits.
