How to Teach Your Kid Patience
No child is born with good manners and a great personality from the get-go. Positive traits, like patience, kindness, joy, and a lot more, have to be taught and learned. And when it comes to having patience in children, it’s no cakewalk. So today, 5-Minute Crafts his highlighting tips to help you teach patience to your kids with ease.
1. Start small.
Teaching patience has to begin at an early age. Even if this means asking them to calm down and wait while you cook them their favorite breakfast — it’s a small start. And as they grow up, you can increase their patience level by making them wait for 1-2 minutes and then increasing the waiting time until their wants are met.
2. Make it a positive experience.
When a child is young, they can’t fathom the concept of time or a sense of delayed gratification. When you set a particular timeframe to have their desires met, they’ll keep bothering you by asking if it’s time yet. No matter how frequently these questions are asked, you need to be patient and kind toward them instead of being annoyed. This helps in creating a positive experience for both of you.
3. Delay the gratification.
Sometimes, you may have to delay your child’s gratification to enlighten them about patience. If they want a pet, there may be no valid reason to have one right at this moment. You can tell them to wait for their birthday or Christmas to teach them about waiting for things that matter.
4. Never break your promises.
Almost every parent promises their kid something, hoping that they’ll forget about it later. But doing this will make your kid’s waiting period seem longer than it should be. This happens because they haven’t learned the concept of time yet. Moreover, it also develops a mindset that waiting for even 5 minutes will actually take ages as they have had the same experience in the past. That’s why you should always keep your promises and be accurate when they ask about how long something will take.
5. Be creative when giving them information.
Rather than snapping at your kid’s question of “Is it time yet?” with answers like, “Soon!” or “Stop bothering me,” respond with information instead.
Since kids don’t understand the concept of time, you can try answering them creatively. You can respond to them by saying, “The theme park is just a movie away,” or “Your dad’s birthday is 12 sleeps away, we’ll bake a cake then.” Using relatable terms for your child makes it easy for them to understand the concept of patience as well.
6. Teach your kids to take turns.
Waiting for their turn for something fun may seem a bit frustrating to your child in the beginning, but when they keep practicing taking turns, it actually helps in building patience in their psyche. If your kid is having a hard time being patient while waiting for their turn for the swings, then you must take them to the park often until they master the lesson.
7. Use countdown timers.
When you eventually lose your own patience while you enlighten your kids about being patient, you can use visual tools like countdown timers. For instance, you can keep one in their room when they’re waiting for the New Year to arrive or for any other event they’re looking forward to. You can also put up a calendar and mark the particular day they’re waiting for and ask them to cross off the day that has passed to make them feel like they’re closer to the “big day.”