Small tasks that promote the autonomy of children
You can not demand a little boy the same as an adult. The responsibilities will be coming with the years and little by little they will increase. Although you can start to encourage the autonomy of minors at very young ages. Small activities with which to make them form in this sense.
From administering the weekly pay, to making the bed or being responsible for what your school bag contains. Forms that, although they require the supervision of an adult, will make the child learn to work by itself.
Activities that promote the autonomy of children
1. Management of weekly pay. The weekly pay becomes the first salary of the children. A quantity of money that can be given by the first notions of managing an economy. The youngest will learn that if they spend this allocation at a stroke, they will lose in the future the possibility of acquiring something more expensive, an important lesson on saving.
2. Make the bed. Making the bed is one of the first responsibilities that children must assume. A task that although simple, helps the good functioning of the home. If the child learns the importance that every morning before school should do this work without anyone asking, you will get an important step in their autonomy.
3. Prepare the backpack. The sooner the child learns that the backpack is his responsibility, the sooner he will assume that he should be the one who should take some time every day to make sure he takes everything to school. Parents can help by asking if they need something special for a specific activity. The purpose is to get the child to do it automatically.
4. Pick up the toys. It is very fun to play, but not so much to pick up afterwards. However, the youngest must understand that after leisure comes an obligation as important as leaving everything in order. Children must understand that toys are their responsibility and that if they do not watch over their care, they may lose them or break them.
5. Personal cleanliness. It is the little one who must make sure that he is clean. Begin by teaching him to wash his hands can be a good first step for the child to understand the need for hygiene and that he should be the one to make sure to keep it.
Autonomy: tips to motivate children
Getting a child to perform all these activities right away is a simple task. Developing autonomy is a long process that requires attention from parents, who can help their children in these ways:
- Create routine. We must insist day by day on the need to carry out the mentioned activities. Make the child understand that it is something that should be done regularly and not in a timely manner.
- Patience. Rome was not built in a day and the autonomy of children will not be achieved in a single day. For this reason you have to know how to wait and give time for the little ones to assimilate these tasks.
- Realistic goals. You can not expect the child to do tasks that do not correspond to his age. You have to be realistic with the minor's limitations and demand based on them.
- Praise. Each achievement should be rewarding with good praise. If one day we see that it is the child who finishes playing and picks up everything, he should be told how much he has liked this way of acting to encourage them to continue like this.
Damián Montero
