10 Simple Activities That Build Responsible Kids
Don’t you just BEAM with pride with your child OWNS it!? What awesome little humans you’re raising! Yeah!
Teaching personal responsibility is a lifelong challenge for you as a parent, but boy is it rewarding! It’s never too early to start. In fact, if you start implementing skill sets when your child is a toddler, you’ll help to engrain these vital habits while the child is still malleable.
It’s super helpful to start early as it reduces the shock to your kid’s system while helping to set expectations early on in their development. The older the child is when you start, the more consistent you’ll need to be. It’s likely to be a harder road as the child ages, but it still works…so stay strong!! You got this.
Teaching kids can be tough…it takes time, patience and skills. But once they get it, life becomes easier for everyone! Here are some helpful tips that will turbo-charge your journey to super kids!
#1 Start Early
Start teaching responsibility as soon as they can walk. You don’t want a teenager who won’t make their bed…or a sandwich by themselves… or a 25 year old that still needs you to do their laundry. From the time they walk, get kids to start:
Putting things away
Tidying up
Unpack/pack up
#2 Get them to Help - Do Chores
From the time they can walk, they can start helping! Start with small tasks & add on as they show mastery of each skill. eg. Start with putting their plate on the sink, then into the sink, next move onto drying (non-breakable) dishes, then to washing dishes. Jobs kids can do from a young age and be built on as they grow:
Dishes
Gardening
Laundry
Cleaning
Cooking
Kids LOVE helping! When they help, they feel valued.
#3 Role Model Responsibility - Finish What You Start
Seeing a task through to completion is an important responsibility milestone. It also helps create a sense of worth and pride. Model responsibility by completing/explaining tasks. Use “we” statements as they are learning to take responsibility, so they don't feel like they are doing everything themselves or are alone. eg. Have “we” finished doing the laundry? What do we need to do next? Make sure you finish the things you start and encourage them to do the same.
#4 Praise Effort & Improvement
It is important to praise efforts and improvements with children and remember to focus on their actions, not them as a person. Avoid labelling kids as good/bad/naughty, etc and focus on things they can improve on - their actions.
Well done on putting the hard work in to…
Great work persevering until…
Wow. Last time you got X, this time you got Y. All that practice/training is paying off!
Expect and embrace failure and imperfection. You and the kids will get things wrong and that's ok. Failing is part of learning. Persisting through them leads to growth and success.
#5 Watch Expectations
Kids are learning. Appreciate their effort, even if it isn’t perfect and acknowledge a job completed and well done. Next time you are doing that job yourself, demonstrate to the child how to improve it.
#6 Have Family/Class Rules - Without Reward
Family/Class rules need to apply to all members of the household or classroom, this includes the teachers and parents. Remember to focus on the actions you do want the kids to take and express those instead of the things you don't want them to do. Have no fear, we all say "Don't do..." but if we can then reflect and follow up with what to do, it helps kids know what they need to focus on.
Make the rules based around what you WANT
Flip the don’ts in to do’s
Kids don’t require rewards to learn responsibility. They naturally want to please and will appreciate praise and time spent together.
#7 Provide Routine & Structure
Kids love structure! Let's face it, we all do to some degree. That's because it helps us feel safe and secure. This is no different for children. In fact, even more so, kids rely on having routines and structures so that they know what to do and what to expect and that helps them feel safe. Ways to develop routines and structure:
Have a timetable
Set a morning/night routine
Give specific jobs to be done at set times
Have an order to do things in
Discuss changes tot he timetable and routine with kids, before they happen
Having a structure and routine helps reduce anxiety.
#8 Teach Consequences
Kids need to learn consequences for their actions. Every choice that they make has a consequence, good and bad. It's important for children to learn the consequences of their actions as it develops their responsibility. There are things you shouldn’t try to do or fix for your children. If they are responsible for something and forget or don’t leave enough time to get something done, there is a lesson in learning the consequence of their choices.
No lunch/sports equipment/class equipment
Forgetting things
Incomplete tasks or projects
Let them learn from their choice but also teach them to reflect and improve. Discuss with the child what happened and how (and why) to improve next time by asking questions and letting them come up with the solutions. Problem solving skills are an important part of personal development as well as being responsible for your actions.
#9 Participation In Sports
Sports are great for learning things like:
Collaboration
Teamwork
Sportsmanship
Failure and success
Improvement over time through practice
Team sports help encourage group work and your role in a team, while individual sports encourage self dependence and having no-one to blame. Choose the type of sport that will most help your child grow as a person.
#10 Get a Job
Kids can get jobs well before working age. In classrooms, give kids set jobs that they are responsible for. At home, get kids volunteering in an area they are interested in.
Want to be a vet or enjoy animals? Get volunteer work at an animal rescue.
Have a business? Get them to help you with admin or sales tasks.
Want to earn some $$? Help them ask for odd jobs from the neighbours or trusted friends
15 years old, head out and find a part time job
Having a job creates responsibility as the wider community relies on the child to complete tasks and do what is expected of them. It can also help with time management and reliability as they learn there is a bigger world that is less forgiving if they aren't being responsible.
Teaching our kids responsibility for themselves, their choices and their actions helps create kids that are resilient, well-rounded little beings. Keep at the simple actions and soon, good habits will be built and responsibility will be part of daily living.
Here's a Video About It Too!
Xo Lisa oX
TL;DR?
Watch the video on 10 Simple Activities to Teaching Kids Responsibility here
Grab the quick action guide here
