Competence
Encourage your child to explore new things, from getting dressed by themselves to writing their name. You can help them to build competence by helping them to master different skills that will prepare them for the journey ahead.
Jack of All Trades!
Let your little one explore lots of new activities and experiences.
Allow your child to decide what they want to do during their free time. Help them practice decision-making, negotiating with others, and speaking up for themselves.
- Your child’s imagination is very active! Enjoy your child’s ability to create magical worlds with imaginary friends. Watch as they turn laundry baskets into pirate ships and pillow cushions into islands.
- Encourage them to be creative! Let them use paper and crayons to draw, chalk to play with outside, or even recycled items, like boxes and paper towel rolls!
It’s never too early to help your child set daily goals. Learning to be responsible and accomplishing goals will help your child feel more prepared to take on difficult situations in the future.
Give your child small jobs. Let them…
-
- Carry their own backpack.
- Sign their name on greeting cards.
- Push the “WALK” button as you get ready to cross the street.
Other ways to help boost your child’s sense of competence include:
-
- Encouraging them to drink from a glass instead of a plastic cup.
- Letting them cut food with a dull knife (with supervision).
- Allowing them to use scissors during a craft activity.
- Having them bake with you.
Draw connections between similar skills that your child uses for different tasks. Once they are able to make the connections between different types of activities, they will be more confident to try new tasks.
- When your child is able to pour water from one cup into another during bath time, consider giving them a supervised opportunity to try pouring themselves a glass of orange juice or milk with breakfast.
- Children at this age are continuing to learn about right and wrong and how their actions affect those around them. Helping others is a great way to teach your child about how their behavior can have a positive effect on others.
- Find opportunities for your child to be helpful, such as:
- Feeding a pet.
- Giving their friend a hug when they look sad.
- Drawing a picture for someone.
“Look, giving your friend a hug made them feel better. They stopped crying and are now smiling”
“Wow! They are so lucky to have a big sister who is so helpful!”
When the going gets tough, the tough get going!
Remember…
Fixing a problem for your child may make it less likely that they will try to figure things out on their own in the future, so let them try first. Only step in when needed.
Children with a strong sense of self- competence are willing to try new challenges, even when they come up short the first time.
Let your little one be their own superhero! Don’t immediately jump in to help when you see them having difficulty. Give your child the chance to work through tasks that may be just a bit beyond their ability level.
- Have them try to get themselves dressed, wash their hands, and put toothpaste on their own toothbrush.
Remind them that it’s okay to feel discouraged after trying something for the first time that didn’t go perfectly.
- Encourage them to work through a problem, and show them that you believe they are capable of handling the situation. For more information on problem solving, click here.
- If your child is eating peas, but is having trouble keeping them on the spoon, let them know that they are competent and persistent by saying “Keep trying, you can do it!”
- When they’re having difficulty, ask, “What is another way that might work?” Instead of solving the problem for them, give them hints or clues for what they can do next.