5 Ways To Help Your Child Create Habits That Stick

Healthy habits are important because ultimately they influence how we think, act, feel, and behave. Habits can also make our lives easier! When our good habits go out the window, we can begin to experience mental fatigue, frustration, and difficulty maintaining focus. The same is true for children! As parents, it’s our responsibility to help our children create good habits that will instill confidence and productivity as they grow up. This is one way we can set them up for success!

An example of good habits for children would include their morning routine:

• Eat breakfast
• Get dressed for school
• Brush teeth
• Let the dog out
• Get your school bag
• Carry a water bottle to stay hydrated

Other habits you might want to introduce into your child’s life include healthy eating, getting into an exercise routine, or completing homework before dinner time.

Related: 8 Habits of Highly Successful Homeschool Families

Tips for parents

Be patient

Habits are not formed overnight. In fact, it can take a little over two months before a new behavior becomes automatic and turns into a habit. When setting expectations for your child, try to be realistic and patient with them. It’ll be more difficult for children to adopt a new habit if they feel that their progress is causing frustration. Allow your child to set the pace and you will notice that the more at ease they are, the easier it will be for the habit to stick.

Start simple

Begin with a habit that is simple but satisfactory, for example, brushing teeth. This may form part of a bigger morning routine, as discussed above, but it’s important to start simple. Children may feel overwhelmed by trying to do multiple tasks and developing several new habits at once. So break the routine down into smaller, simple steps and allow them to master one thing at a time.

5 Ways To Help Your Child Create Habits That Stick

As you begin to build new habits for your family, remember the 5 Rs:

1. Role model
2. Reminders
3. Remove temptations
4. Routines and rituals
5. Rewards

Role model

The mantra “more is caught than taught” has never been more true! Your child will find it easier to adopt new habits and make them stick if they watch you do it too. If your child sees you reading, they are more likely to want to read as well. If they see you eat all the vegetables on your plate, they are more likely to enjoy them with enthusiasm.

The opposite is also true. If you never wash your hands before dinner, there’s a smaller chance that your child will adopt this new habit.

The conclusion: In order to create habits that stick, you need to model them for your child. Simply seeing you do it may be enough to keep your child motivated.

Related: How To Get Your Child To Love Maths (Even If You Don’t!)

Reminders

The most effective way to get a new habit to stick is by setting reminders for ourselves to do it. Find a way to prompt your child to start the action. To start with, these prompts will need to come from you. The key is to make these reminders and prompts tangible and visual.

Reminders can be very simple, like putting a glass of water next to your child’s bed to remind them to begin the day with a big gulp of water.

Related: Make Your Week Easier By Doing These Things On A Sunday

Remove temptations

Sometimes the easiest way to create a healthy habit is to break a bad one! The best way to do this is to remove any temptations from their periphery.

For example, if you are trying to get your child to head to bed earlier each night, remove the temptations to stay up late, such as taking the TV, phone, and other tech devices out of their bedroom.

Routines and rituals

Routines help us to create habits that stick, particularly for children. If you are looking to incorporate a new habit into your child’s life, often it’s helpful to begin by piggy-backing off of an already established routine or ritual.

Rewards

Positive reinforcement is when you reward somebody for good behavior, making it more likely for them to repeat that good behavior. Introducing a reward system to their daily routine will help your child’s good habits to stick!

Rewards can be a mix of both short-term (choosing a book to read together) and long-term (earning a special day out). These rewards will be dictated by the habits you are trying to form, and how invested you want your children to be in the process.