How to Help Your Child Conquer Their Problems

Gosh, I love a good challenge! How about you? Being able to climb the biggest mountains in our lives really makes us feel capable and awwwwesome! Acing the all the tests can also be where it’s at!

It’s super sweet to have confident, incredible kiddos who feel the same way. It’s more satisfying than popping bubble wrap or having a freshly sharpened pencil! Yahoo!

So let’s go over some sure-fire ways to help your child feel ready to conquer whatever challenges they may face.

It’s so important to tackle everything with the same level of courage no matter what challenge comes along… Whether it’s the little things like trying something new for the first time or something super-huge like climbing Mount Everest!

New stuff can be intimidating. Think about the first time you tried to ride a bike…I bet it was totally scary at first!

Problem Solving

We all run into issues all the time, so doesn’t it make sense to take charge of these problems with grace and positivity? Make a commitment to make problem solving in your household a fun thing! It should simply be the way your family does business.

As usual, staying positive & leading by example is the best way to teach your kids. If they see you handling burned dinner or flat tires with ease, they are sure to follow suit.

It doesn’t matter if you’re not too handy with a hammer or you really aren’t the greatest at solving math problems, because when your children see you hard at work doing your best to problem solve, they’re going to become little problem solvers themselves!

Doing projects together will encourage them to learn how to solve things when they encounter problems on their own.

Teach them the basics of problem solving. Identify the issue & tackle the problem in bite-sized steps.

For example, if your child is constantly missing the bus, identify the little things that can help them to start being early for their ride to school. Checklists are golden for these types of situations!

Teeth brushed - ✅
Homework done - ✅
Outfit chosen - ✅
Lunch packed - ✅
Backpack ready - ✅

Achieve the checklist one item at a time and set a timer so you know exactly how long the tasks take to complete. Add a few more minutes to pad in case of setbacks (or multiple reminders) and you have a recipe for successful problem solving every time!

Helping your kiddo to learn how to not only identify the problem, but to break it down into bite-sized chunks and then discover multiple solutions to each problem, is a sure-fire way to instil an awesome foundation for problem solving…

No matter how tiny or how tough the problem may be!

Encourage Creative Play

Do you remember building your first pillow fort? How about wooden blocks? Or the first time you made it all the way across the monkey bars!?

Children learn through play!

Allowing them freedom to make choices through individual and peer-based play is an excellent way to cement problem solving skills.

Encourage them to use their imagination and make sure they have opportunities to be challenged through their play time. Try again becomes a fun response to their challenges during play!

Another fabulous way to help them learn to problem solve, is to use stories to inspire!

Have you ever read your children the story of the Missing Piece by Shel Silverstein? It’s a classic and well worth the read! Problem solving at it’s finest.

As always, our friends over at Sesame Street have some great stuff to say about it, too!

“Creativity can solve almost any problem.” - George Lois