3 Strategies to Teach your Child Patience

Do you want to find out how to teach your child patience?

We all need to do this at some point in our parenting lives, right?

Use these three strategies for Mamas to help teach your small child how to be more patient as they grow.

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If your kids are developing normally, they will have a few struggles mastering the whole 'wait-for-your-turn' thing.

Not to mention having to wait for you to make them a sandwich at lunchtime.

Teaching patience to small children can, however, be extremely frustrating because usually when we want our children to be patient, we are doing something important or necessary ourselves!

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This often results in frustration and often eye-rolling resentment on the part of the parent, right?

While this may release the annoyance, it can give our kids the impression we don't value them or that we resent them for intruding upon our lives.

It also does nothing towards helping you teach your child patience on a short-term or long-term basis.

It’s hard to teach your child Patience - and It is hard for small children to learn because they live in a 'right here, right now' mentality.

This is why children under 5 are 'concrete' learners-for instance, they can identify the more abstract concept of 'number 5' by using materials such as counters and blocks to understand what 5 might look like and feel like in a concrete way.

Check out my post on 'What your Toddler is Learning through Play' here

So how can we teach our child patience?

Before you introduce this concept, you must remember this:

This is not something you can teach your child in one or two reminders.

Also, getting angry because they can't remember how to be patient, is not actually helpful (although as in my recent post 'The #1 Thing you should Never let your Child Hear', we've all been there!).

And, onto the strategies to teach your child patience!

1: Sing songs with them.

I have a friend who sings a 'Patient song' with her little ones to remind them to be patient.

I personally have OFTEN done the same-and it works so well, some of the time. It's all about distracting and redirecting the child's attention towards something better than just whining for the thing they want-or just taking it.

But don't just sing songs to them, sing the songs with your child. Wait for them to finish the last words of a well-known song, or ask them to help you count the '5 little frogs on a speckled log' with you.

Remember that little people are only learning how to manage their emotions-and learning to be patient often brings some of these emotions to the fore!

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2: Use the 5-finger method.

This is a well-known method for calming a child down, but it works equally well for learning patience!

Teach your child to trace around their hand, using your forefinger of the other hand.

(You can teach your child to breathe in and out at the same time, or count, etc.)

3: Get them active if you can.

I remember getting a funny look and a giggle or two in lines and queues when I would challenge my 3-year-old to jump, jump, jump! It was hilarious, but she LOVED it and so did any older people around us!

It is SO much better to be seen for that positive energy than the whinging child negative energy.

Most people appreciate that you are playing with and engaging your child, instead of standing there looking at your phone and just letting them whine.

It is definitely not easy to teach your child patience.

However, with time and some patience of your own, it can be achieved bit by bit - and it’s so worth it!

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Miranda is a teacher-turned Christian life coach, stress management and emotional wellbeing coach, for mums both spiritual and not, who are finding life overwhelming and stressful. She uses emotional processing basics with her clients, as well as uncovers deeper beliefs and habits that you may be unaware of - and the influence they are having on you subconsciously.
Miranda also authors wellbeing books such as Stop Mum Guilt and fantasy novels, as well as creates physical journals and printable products for women. If you feel overwhelmed, or are sick and tired of feeling that horrible guilt you carry around in your chest for ‘not doing everything well enough’, grab your 30% off call here as a new client!

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