5 Smart Ideas For Encouraging Preschoolers To Choose Activities On Their Own
Do you want to boost your preschooler’s creativity, activity, and overall development? It may be best to expose her to a range of things while she is still young. A younger mind is a blank canvas waiting to be painted. Your little one will eventually pick what interests her the most and then you can hone her interests to really bring out the best of her talents. Here, we list several activities your kid can choose that can really develop into something greater.
First we will see WHY it is important to let your child choose what she is interested in. So let’s push our mommy dreams to the back for a little while and understand the importance of letting your child develop skills and talents on her own.
1. Boosts confidence
Letting her choose her interests will give her the feeling that she is capable of big decisions at a younger age.
2. Builds self-esteem
Choosing hobbies will help your child feel like you trusted her and thus build her self-esteem. This will help her feel like she can accomplish anything in life.
3. Improves cognitive development
Making own choices will help develop her ability to think and reason out too.
4. Minimize difference of opinions and conflicts
When she makes her own choice, it leaves no room with disagreements or conflicts with you. You can sit back and watch her learn as she succeeds and fails, gently guiding her along the way.
5. Makes them independent to some extent
Independence is great when learned young. This doesn’t mean you do not correct her when wrong but simply allow her the freedom of choice.
6. Makes responsible
When you allow your child freedom of choice, explain that responsibility comes along with it. She should understand that you will be there to pick her up when she falls but every step she takes is her responsibility.
Tips To Encourage Preschoolers To Choose Activities On Their Own
1. Provide Craft Materials To Create Things
Provide your preschooler with an empty cardboard box, glue, food colors, paint brush, crayons, ribbons, paper strips, scissors, old newspaper, small plastic bottles, markers, and other necessary craft material and encourage her to create a cardboard house using all the materials. Guide your kid to cut the paper and paste it at appropriate areas of the cardboard box. Tell her to color the house. This will motivate her to play with colors and enhance her motor skills. You can get your child to use the small plastic bottles or toilet rolls and draw the faces of the family members on them by using the markers. This will boost creativity and imagination.
2. Read Out Stories To Encourage Kid To Enact The Characters
During story time, mums usually read with exaggerated expressions to make the story exciting for your child. Soon, your child may show enthusiasm to enact her favorite character from the story. This means that she may be inclined towards theatrics and drama and you must encourage it.
3. Play Children’s Musical Songs
Playing music is a great way to boost creativity and musical talent in young kids. Most children like dancing but some have a natural flair for it. You will instantly spot your child’s talent when you turn the music on so go ahead and have some fun with it.
4. Arrange Park Play Dates
Organize play dates for preschoolers in park instead of arranging them in local café or indoors. Parks are full of fun and enjoyable activities. Participating in park play dates encourages your kids to play a variety of outdoor games and activities that not only boost their physical growth and development but also refreshes their mind. Your preschooler will instinctively choose to play see-saw, football, and other outdoor games with other kids present with him on the play dates. This is a great way to spot what your child is inclined towards.
5. Plan Trips To Beach, Botanical Garden, Museum, & Kids’ Attractions
Visiting beaches, museums, botanical gardens, and other enjoyable, educational attractions, automatically encourage kids to choose a related interest to develop. For instance, if you plan a day trip to a beach, your child will instinctively start playing with the beach ball, creating castles out of the sand, swimming, and collecting the shells at the shore. You never know what could trigger off a lifelong passion!
Whatever it is your child enjoys can develop into a great passion, talent, catharsis or one day maybe even a great career! Your job as a parent is to encourage, praise and guide your child, providing everything she may need to hone this interest. That is the best gift you could give her!
