The Artful Life: 10 Crafty Tips to Boost a Child’s Self-Confidence and Improve Academic Performance: #8
Categories: family, galleries, The Artful Life
As parents, we strive to help our children grow up to be healthy, productive adults. Times are changing faster than ever, and parents are working harder to make ends meet. With constant introduction to new technology, as individuals and as a family, we have more choices than we’ve ever had before. So how do we stay focused and ensure we give our children the best upbringing possible? In this series we will share some tips we have found that help children develop a positive self image, and encourage success in the classroom.
#8: “Oh the Places You’ll Go!”
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| Image by infinitewhite, via Flickr |
Children can only learn about the world around them when they get out and see it, smell it, and feel it. Of course we all think vacations are good, but exploring a bit closer to home is great too! Even if you don’t live in a city with museums and attractions close by, you can create deeply meaningful experiences for children (this is one of my favorite articles about that). Excursions into the world develops their awareness, improves their social skills, increases their communication abilities and contributes to their sense of pride and accomplishment. Make their experiences away from home as diverse as possible. It’s great to take children to kid-oriented places like the park, the zoo, McDonald’s, where they can just be kids and roam free. However, sometimes they really need to experience more grownup settings, like an Art Gallery or Museum Exhibit, or even a fine dining restaurant (the kind that doesn’t have plastic lids and straws for drinks!) It’s hard on parents to venture to destinations like this with children, but how will they learn to love these places if you don’t teach them? If you are taking them to something like a museum exhibit, prepare them in advance by reading books, watching videos and playing games on the subject (you can usually find a great selection of resources at your local library). This helps kids develop an interest, which prepares them to behave appropriately when they see it in person!
Where do you love taking your children?
Stay tuned for tip #9 tomorrow! Did you miss the earlier tips? Start here
