Healthy habits should ideally begin for children at a young age. As with any activity, the formation of habits takes time and practice. Once established, children will be well-equipped to use these habits and incorporate them in their daily lives as they get older. Children also have keen observation skills — especially little ones. They take in as much as they can as they try to understand their surroundings. Young children tend to be curious and they often learn by imitating. You may notice little kids mimicking what they observe, regardless of whether it’s good or bad. Before your child starts to pick up unwanted habits and behaviors from others, take a moment to be a positive influence for your child. Parents are a child’s primary resource for knowledge and behavior. This includes developing healthy habits that can lead to lifelong benefits. Actions are not enough, however, as children also need to understand why these habits are important and why they need to to use them in their own lives. Here are some healthy habits that you can teach your child right now:
Hand Washing
Good hygiene should be a priority for all. This is why teaching your kids to develop the habit of frequent hand-washing is essential. There are immense benefits of hand-washing for your family and children, the most of which is prevention of infection and germs and helping your family stay healthy. Once you have taught your child about the importance of washing his or her hands, you can facilitate building this habit by setting up instances for when hand-washing is expected. Start by creating a list of opportunities when they can put these healthy habits into practice. For example, it’s common practice to wash our hands before and after meals. You should also remind children to wash their hands after playing outside, after using the restroom or after blowing their nose. Understanding the risk of germs and learning about the importance of frequent hand-washing will help your child build on the behavior and soon take the initiative to wash their hands on their own, without being told to do so.
Good Oral Hygiene
How many times have you heard your parents tell you to brush your teeth? You may have found it annoying when you were younger, but your parents weren’t wrong. You live with your first set of pearly whites for a short time before they are replaced by permanent teeth, but they’re all you’ve got before they start falling out one by one. Toothaches are one of the most unpleasant things a kid can experience. But that can be prevented with proper oral hygiene. Help young children get into the habit of flossing and brushing their teeth regularly by teaching them the importance of proper oral hygiene and the correct techniques. Help make visits to the dentist a positive experience for your child by going regularly. This teaches children that dentists help take care of our teeth when they’re healthy, (and when something is wrong.) You can even make this a teachable moment by finding interesting ways to explain cavities to kids – how they form and how tooth decay can be prevented with healthy habits of regular brushing and good oral hygiene.
Seatbelts On!
Make seatbelts a requirement for you and your kids when riding in a vehicle. Ensure that children see the value of wearing a seatbelt from a young age helps them easily adopt the habit of buckling up each time they get in a car. While road accidents can’t be completely eliminated by safe driving due to other external factors, seatbelts save thousands of lives each year and that’s a good statistic to remember when teaching kids the importance of putting on their seatbelts. As soon as young children are old enough to buckle themselves up, double check that they did it correctly and commend them for doing a great job. It’s also important to set rules for behavior inside the car for when you are driving.
Love for Physical Activities
You may have heard someone say “Find your sport.” Participating in sports not only helps keep your body healthy, but it also helps clear your mind and develop a sense of camaraderie and sportsmanship, among other things. Physical activities can be most enjoyable with friends or family. Introduce physical activities to your kids from an early age to help develop their interest. There are countless physical activities you can do with your child, enough to fill the weekends of an entire year. Try something new from time to time — for example, you can take your kids swimming, , to play badminton, volleyball, jogging, or to dance classes. Chances are, they’ll find something they like and it will stick. The better they get an activity, the more they will enjoy it.
Keeping a Positive Attitude
Maintaining a positive attitude gets you places in life. Optimism can help children turn mishaps into positive experiences, which will overall impact their health, happiness and general well-being. Children learn by example. Whatever they adults do will seem ok for them to do as well in their minds. Thus, exhibiting a positive attitude towards anything helps your child see the benefits of adopting the same outlook in his or her own life.
Manage Screen Time
Living in a digital age, kids spend more and more time on the internet watching TV rather than socializing in the real world. Too much screen time can inhibit children’s capacity to interact with others, and can lead to them living a sedentary lifestyle. Manage screen time for your family by setting specific time limits and family-use apps that promote learning instead of spending idly time on social media. The main takeaway is that the use of the internet is not necessarily bad, but remember to incorporate the internet in a way that maximizes productivity and enhances life from time to time.
Adopting healthy habits doesn’t take too much work or stress for parents. As long as you are willing to give your children support, encouragement and guidance, establishing healthy habits in your child can be simple. For more parenting tips and resources, or if you’re looking for a good quality preschool for your little one, please feel free to contact Launchpad Early Education.
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