How to Encourage Good Habits in Kids : Sunia Manan

It is the duty of parents to develop healthy habits in kids early years of life. As a parent, it is mandatory to teach your kids good habits including good manners, social skills and physical activity habits. It takes time to develop a habit in kids. Parents need to be patient in achieving their desired results in their kids.
Today we will share some tips how to encourage good habits in your kids.
1. Be a Role Model
Kids always copy what their parents do. Parents should set an example of their own self in front of their kids by practicing the good habits. Your child learn by observing your daily behavior and habits. If you wash your hands before every meal, he/she will follow the same after watching you. Repeating an action on daily basis will help the child to make it a habit.
2. Good Manners
You can encourage good manners in your child by using the phrases like ‘Thank You, You are Welcome, Excuse me’ etc. You can tell the child not to behave badly with elder people. You can guide how to eat food in a proper way while sitting on a dining table with family. Teaching these at early ages of life help the kids to adopt it as a habit.
3. Physical Activities
Physical activities play an important role in developing an organized routine of a child. Sports teach the kids teamwork, patience, competence and make them more active in life. Walking with a pet, planting a garden, playing with friends or even doing help in household chores make kids physically active. Physical activities also reduce screen time of children. Kids develop a good health and adopt it as a habit to stay physically active later in their lives.

4. Make a proper place of everything
As a parent try to make a proper place for everything of your kids. Ask them to put their shoes, toys, books at their place after using it. Develop this habit in early years of life. This habit really need patience and effort.
5. Encourage Family Bonding
Family time is very important for a child of growing age. When whole family sits together in any time of the day, it helps in building strong relationship and bonding with each other. Kids learn to share their problems while sitting with their parents. Kids learn social skills in this way.
6. Setting Rules
As a parent, you should set some rules for your kids. You should make a timetable for your kids, set some fixed hours for study, play time and screen time. Try to be flexible while setting the routine of your child and don’t be too strict.
7. Encourage a Healthy Diet
It is very important to educate the kids about making healthy food choices. Your child will adopt good eating habit if you start it at early years of age. Encourage your child to eat healthy food and educate him/her about healthy food benefits. It will help the kids to make healthy choices later in life.
8. Reward your kids
Giving rewards encourage kids to practice good habits on daily basis. In spite of offering the kids materialistic rewards (e.g. chocolates, toys etc.) try to implement intangible rewards (e.g. hug, words of appreciation etc.).
9. Reading Books
Reading story books with your kids is a source of fun and learning at the same time. Give the kids some reading material, interesting and interactive story books on daily basis to develop book reading habits. Good literature teaches kids to learn good manners, code of discipline and a positive approach towards life.
Conclusion
Good habits in kids can be developed by practicing the habits in front of kids. Kids don’t learn from what you say to them, kids learn by watching your actions. If parents will develop good habits in themselves, children will follow the same.