Tips To Help Your Child To Develop Patience

Children are demanding, impulsive and impatient at times. And my son (now two and a half years old) was the same three months back. He was so impatient that we had to give in to his demands immediately. It was overwhelming for us because we couldn't carry out his requests right away. He liked to get his things done as soon as possible. That's when we thought it was enough and that we should do something to teach him Patience. Teaching toddlers about Patience is not an easy task. But, it's necessary!

We all understand what Patience is; your child asks for a toy when you are in the middle of the cooking and cannot leave it unattended even for a minute, and you ask your kid to wait for a minute, he listens to you, sits quietly, waits for your work to get over. This is Patience! 

And, this was completely missing in our case; thus, I started talking to multiple parents in my circle and researching it on google. After reading plenty of blogs and doing a lot of studies, we concluded and started following the tips mentioned below. And believe me, we managed to teach him Patience. Now he is more patient and always waits and listen to us. So being a mother myself, I am here to help all mommies and share some tips to teach your kid patience.

Lead By Example

First and foremost is to lead by example. You must have heard many times that to teach your kids anything, you should learn to do that thing yourself. So, be patient with your little one when you want him to improve his behaviour. Remember that they may not always understand what is going on. They require your assistance. So, as you guide your little ones, remember to be patient! Frankly, through this, I realised that I, too, was impatient. And we learnt this together.

Take Time To Fulfil The Demand

A technique where you prepare to fulfil the demand as he makes, but you suddenly stop, saying, ''Oh Wait!'' as if you forgot something. Give a 10-20 seconds pause and then fulfil the demand and praise him for waiting. This prompt reaction rewards your child for their Patience and gives him the sense that you will still give him what he wants even if he has to wait a little longer. Next time, allow him to wait a few seconds longer before rewarding him to test his Patience. 

Set A Timer

Setting a timer is a fantastic way to teach Patience. Teach your child how the timer works when he is calm. It's kind of the same thing that you need to do in the stretching technique. Your kid is asking for something; you prepare to give him and then suddenly stop saying, ''wait, I need to do this'' and ask him to wait until the alarm rings. You can tell him to play or read until it rings. And as soon as the alarm rings, come back immediately and praise him for waiting. Initially, set the timer for 20 seconds and slowly increase it. This technique is too helpful in my case as he is always excited to listen to the alarm ringing and waits for it patiently.  

Lose Something To Gain Something

This trick works wonders for me. And this is not a googled one. Along with being a good listener, I must say, I am an excellent reader too, and I usually get many ideas after reading a lot. So this is my own creative idea. What I do is, whenever my son asks for anything, instead of saying, ''Wait,'' I request him first to recite either weekdays, month names, counting, alphabets, poems, etc. and then meet his demands. It's like, ''No pain, no gain,'' and definitely, kids learn that they may also have to fulfil others' demands sometimes. 

Be Stubborn Like Your Kid

This is another trick I do with my son. It's common that when kids are impatient, they start shouting and sometimes show rude behaviour. So, my son does the same whenever he is impatient to get anything he wants, and I, being a mother who wants her kid to learn Patience, ask him to say softly and with love. At first, he ignores my request and continues his behaviour.

He forgets that if he is stubborn, I am his mother. LOL! I become stubborn too and request him again to speak softly; if he wants anything from me. And! He does that because he is left with no choice. This is how I teach him to be more patient and soft-spoken.

Engage Kids In Shopping

Grocery shopping is one thing where kids are very impatient because they get bore easily. But frankly, my son who is always interested in cooking and kitchen, took interest in grocery shopping as well. Tell your kid to make his own list of shopping so he can be busy getting the stuff from different counters and get in the cart. Apart from this, while making the payment, which is tiring task for us too to wait in the queue, handover the payment or card to the kid (obviously under a supervision) and ask him to wait and make the payment. This will teach your kid patience and he will learn other things also. 

Games & Activities

There are many games and activities that you can do with your kids to teach them Patience. Some of them are below:

1. Gift wrap a present in many layers and hand it over to the kids, ask them to open it. And interestingly, they will do it patiently because they know something exciting is inside.
2. If you have two or more kids, this activity is quite easier and amazing. You need to blow the bubbles, take one kid's name, and ask him to burst it. This way, each kid has to wait for his turn to burst the bubble.
3. Puzzle game is another way to teach Patience, as working on something for a long time before seeing the results helps a child develop Patience. 
4. You can play a silent game where you request your kid to be quiet for 2 minutes (or whatever time suits you), and if he does that, you can reward him by giving him cookies or whatever food he loves.
5. Gardening is another wonderful trick. You can plant a seed and make him understand that his efforts will gradually bear fruit. Allow him to put some seeds, water it daily, and watch the seedling grow into a large plant.

Here are some toys for your child which will help them focus.

Final Words From Author

Though there are many other activities that we, as a mothers do to teach our kids develop patience, these were the some of them I do with my son. And believe me, these tricks are too easy to go for and so quick to give the results. Remember to be consistent in telling them how to wait, especially when it comes to safety. Make them understand the importance of play after cleaning up, and cleaning after messy play. At last, Patience is a necessary life skill that should be instilled in children from an early age.

 Here are some tips on dealing with anger in children.

Namita is a mom to 2.5 yo boy, Hitarth. She loves to share her parenting tips with other moms to help make their parenting a little easier and fun. Her message to all the parents is to never discriminate between a boy and a girl. ''If a man can go out, so does women, and if a woman can cook, so does men.''

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Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this post are the personal views of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the views of The Mom Store.