How to help kids develop good habits

Last Updated on April 1, 2024

As mums we want our kids to develop good habits so they become fully functioning, healthy adults. However, helping kids develop good habits takes time and patience.

If developing good habits in your kids is something you’d like to work on, here are some ways to help your kids develop good habits, that will help them later in life, and make home life easier.

Be patient

Building good habits in our kids takes time and repetition, so it’s something we need to be patient with.

The more patient we are when trying to develop good habits in our kids, the more likely they are to keep trying them, and finally achieving them.

If we’re stressed, or loose our patience with them when we’re trying to teach them a new habit, the more likely they’ll resist it, and they may even never learn it.

Model the habit

Kids learn how to do things from watching us, so if you want them to adopt a habit, they’re more likely to adopt it if it’s something you do as well.

For example, if you make time for reading and your kids see you reading often, then getting them to start a reading habit will be much easier than if they don’t see you read.

If you don’t model a habit that you’re trying to build with your kids, then chances are your kids won’t want to do it either, because you’re not modelling the habit yourself.

Keep habits simple

When getting kids to build good habits, it’s important to teach them habits they’re capable of doing.

For example, saying thank you is a simple habit that kids of most ages can do.

However, a teeth brushing habit may be simple for older kids to develop, but brushing your toddlers teeth may be a habit you’ll have to help with until they’re capable of doing it themselves.

Habit stacking

A great way to introduce new habits to kids is to stack it onto a habit they’re already doing.

For example, if you want your child to start having a bath at night, make it a habit they do before they brush their teeth, which is a habit they already have.

Habit stacking is putting multiple habits together, and in this case your kids will start to learn that having a bath, then brushing their teeth is what happens before they go to bed, it becomes part of their bedtime routine.

Explain the why

Many times explaining why something has to be done increases the likelihood that our kids will do what they’re asked.

In the case of helping our kids to develop good habits, explaining to them that eating fruit and vegetables makes them healthy and strong, or the why behind going to sleep means they’ll have the energy they need to do fun things will increase their likelihood of doing it.

Reward and praise

Kids thrive on rewards and praise, so rewarding or praising good habits is a great way to encourage your kids to implement the habit into their lives.

Rewards work well for older kids if they’re something the kid values, such as the reward of extra screen time, or a later bedtime.

Praise works well for younger kids, they love to see you get excited about something they’ve done well.

Be realistic

Lastly, being realistic about our kid’s behaviour and remembering that they may forget how to do something they previously knew, or they may no longer want to do something they used to love can help with our patience in teaching them a new habit.

For example, your kid could be brushing their teeth really well all week, but one day they decide they can’t remember how to brush them.

Or they may love a vegetable one day, then dislike it the next.

Remembering that not everything goes to plan when it comes to kids, and that some days are better than others, can help us to keep on track with developing habits with our kids, and not giving up because we’ve had a bad day with our efforts.

Habit ideas for kids

Here are some habit ideas for kids that may be a good starting point when introducing habits to your kids:

• Taking a bath or shower
• Washing hands after the toilet, or before and after eating
• Brushing teeth twice a day
• Eating fruit and vegetables
• Helping with household chores
• Reading every night
• Using manners
• Drinking plenty of water
• Doing homework
• Playing outdoors
• Being kind to others

Helping kids develop good habits may feel overwhelming at first, but with some patience, and by taking some of the approaches listed above, our kids will be well on the way to develop the habits and skills they need once they get older.

What habits do you want your kids to start?