When you bring kids into the world, your top priority becomes making their lives the best it can possibly be. Whether you want to make their childhood as good as yours was, or give them all of the things you never had, you find yourself doing everything you can to do what’s right by them. When they’re all grown up, you want them to be able to look back and know that their parents did everything they can for them. Here are some of the ways you can give your children the best start and put them on the road to success.
Encourage a healthy lifestyle
There are lots of ways you can make exercise fun for kids. You could hire a bouncy castle on a dry weekend, buy a trampoline for the back garden or take them to a trampoline park. You could have water fights during the summer, go to the park and kick a ball around or throw a frisbee. Family hikes and bike rides can be a lot of fun and also provide great bonding time where you can chat to your kids and spend quality time with them. You could sign them up to sports or activities they show interest in. Show them that being active and away from their screens is great fun, encourage a love of sports and exercise which they will hopefully carry through with them to their teens and adulthood. The same applies to healthy eating, make tasty yet healthy family meals that you can all enjoy together. Check out sites like Pinterest for inspiration, there are plenty of meals that you can sneak a ton of veg and good stuff into without it being obvious. Take chilli for example, if you use a food processor to finely dice things like mushroom, courgette, carrot and other veggies you can mix this with ground meat. Once it’s all cooked together it’s barely visible and still tastes like chilli so is ideal for fussy kids. Make dinner together a routine, and encourage healthy snacking by letting kids grab a piece of fruit from the bowl when they’re hungry. This promotes positive food habits, people don’t overeat when it comes to fruit so when they’re eating it you know they’re genuinely hungry. When it comes to cakes, biscuits, crisps and other treats it’s easy to overeat because they taste nice. If you choose not to buy these things then they’re never an option and kids won’t feel like they’re missing out.
Work on socialisation
It’s human connection that makes life so special, and it’s important we learn to understand and respect others to be able to form these friendships and bonds. Empathy, respect and kindness has to be learned. Taking children to places where they can make friends and learn how to interact appropriately can be really helpful. While most children will learn this when they start school, doing so beforehand will give them a head start. Teach children to respect elders and authority, it will benefit them greatly throughout their lives. Let them learn what it is to give and receive friendship and how to resolve conflict. These early friendships provide valuable lessons and can be incredibly useful going forward in their lives. Playdates, parks, soft play areas and extracurricular activities are all examples of things you could do to encourage kids to socialise outside of the classroom.
Provide a calm and stable home environment
Children thrive on routine, and need a stable and suitable environment where they can learn, rest, play and develop. The home should be safe and comfortable, and arguments between adults should be kept to an absolute minimum- while this can be easier said than done it’s important not to expose children to this kind of stress. Create a routine and stick to it as best you can, this could be something as simple as having a bath and reading a story before bed. Kids will know what to expect and it helps them to get into good habits. A stable home environment might mean changing the actual property that you live in. If you live in a very busy, noisy or dangerous part of the world, you might consider looking at real estate in calmer and more peaceful environments. It might sound extreme, but bringing up children in a place that’s less polluted, less crime and poverty stricken and generally less chaotic and busy can only be a good thing.
Make education a priority
Education opens up doors that would otherwise be shut and locked. While going off to college or university seems like a long way off, their attitudes towards school and learning are being shaped right now. Make it fun, reward good behaviour and encourage their curiosities. Read books with them, listen to podcasts and watch documentaries together about the things they’re interested in. A natural curiosity and a hunger for knowledge can lead to better school performance which can continue throughout their school lives. Teaching outside of the classroom is important too, while school is great it can never teach them everything. Take them to galleries and museums and on cultural trips. Teach them life skills such as gardening, cooking and baking, take them on camping holidays where they can learn things like orienteering, map reading, putting up a tent, fishing and much more. The more children can learn the better, it gives them independence and the confidence to try new things. It generally puts them on the path to success, where they will eventually graduate from university or higher education and be able to apply for jobs that they want.
It can be overwhelming when you sit and think about what you need to do to give children the best start in life. It’s easy to assume that it’s all about money, but it’s not the case at all. While money can certainly help, there’s plenty of things you can do that don’t cost a thing and will help significantly when it comes to their development and general attitudes.