Brushing your teeth and cleaning up your room is no one’s idea of fun. Nor is it fun to beg and plead with your kids to do said chores, especially when you’re competing with TVs and iPads for their attention. If you’ve ever wondered about how to get kids to listen without wanting to pull out your hair here are some tools for instilling cooperation and accountability in your kids.
Kids love visuals. They haven’t fully developed their language skills and have a hard time wrapping their heads around the concept of time, so visuals, specifically bright primary colors and big print will help them feel more in control of their schedules. When children have a better sense of control over their daily lives, they’ll also be less prone to those terrible tantrums.
If you haven’t tried it already, there are some awesome chore charts you can make to help you and your child visualize their daily activities while incorporating positive reinforcement. Empowering Parents can show you how to get kids to listen by implementing chore charts, positively and effectively.
If you and your child are tech-savvy, there’s the Octopus Smartwatch. Think Trello, but for kids. It features simple icons that represent activities like breakfast time and bath time, along with a digital clock display. You may not know how to get your kids to listen to you, but children are very responsive to kid friendly technology.
If the Octopus Smart Watch sounds threatening, don’t worry. It isn’t intended to take over the role of parenting. It’s just meant to make time management concepts easier for kids to grasp.
Rebecca Eanes put it frankly when she said, “I don’t think any of us want to still be trying to control our children’s behavior when they’re 25 or 40.” The same goes for how they manage their time to complete tasks.
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