What Can You Do At Home To Help Your Child Grow?

Here are four ways you can make a big difference:

1) Connect: 

So much confidence and a sense of identity come from having a healthy connection with close family members. Listen to what your child has to share. Spend time playing together, telling stories, acting out imaginative play, dressing up, cooking, and making family “chores” into family fun memories. These precious moments are when life lessons are taught and learned. Your child can observe how to bounce back, persevere, empathize, feel proud, and feel loved. 

2) Routines:

Consistency and clear, reasonable expectations help a child regulate. Having wake-up, bedtime, school, mealtime, and family game night routines provides a scaffolding that sets a powerful example for life. These routines, while still needing to be fluid, are consistent enough to offer a way to regulate when the world is too bright, too loud, or just too much. Implementing a structured routine can help your child tremendously if they are easily dysregulated.

3) Participation In Activities of Daily Living:

It is all too easy to do things for our kids, especially when we are rushed for time. If we remember that our role as parents is to help our kids grow into independent adults, then it reminds us to allow them the extra time and patience to gain skills in daily tasks, whether that is tooth brushing, hair brushing, dressing, tying laces, buttoning shirts, zipping jackets, cutting with a knife and fork, washing dishes, folding clothes, cooking, cleaning, vacuuming, mowing the lawn, or learning how to wash the car. Rather than cleaning their room or telling them to clean their room, try doing it together and showing them a process they can easily understand and implement. Taking that time to show and teach them how to organize and implement these daily living tasks can better prepare them for independence.

4) Play, Leisure and Motor Skills:

Many kids today feel stress from demands and expectations at school, home, and extracurricular activities. Instilling our kids with a sense of balance between work-play-rest is needed now more than ever. We live in a fast-paced society with all kinds of modern conveniences to save time. How do we use that extra time? Yes, many kids use that extra time playing video games, while adults use that “extra” time trying to get more work done. Look at weekly routines and make time for family play and leisure to find a better balance. Many play activities can build gross, fine, and visual motor skills.

For additional information and to receive recommendations tailored to your family’s specific needs, visit us at playright.com or contact us at (704) 251-4373