Every year, half of all American’s create New Year’s Resolutions, and you may notice that your kids want to get in on the action. If your children ask you about creating a New Year’s Resolution, let them go for it. It is the perfect opportunity for your child to reflect on their priorities and goals while giving you the chance to encourage them and teach them how to follow through. A visit to Kids ‘N Shape childrens gym can be their reward.
If your child is interested in making some improvements this year, ask her what her goals are, as she’ll be more likely to stick with something that motivates her such as getting better grades or learning to play the electric guitar. Help her focus on realistic targets with results that can be tracked (such as “I will read 20 minutes per day at least three times a week” instead of “I will read more” and “I will learn one new song on the piano every month”).
According to the CNN article, “Kids Can Make New Year’s Resolutions, Too” by Jennifer Shu M.D. you can be a valuable part of your child’s success,
“Re-evaluate resolutions every week or two. If your child experiences a setback, start fresh the following week (fortunately, there are 52 of them!), and if the resolutions seem impossible, try to break the task down into baby steps.”
Celebrate your child’s progress toward their goals, by rewarding them along the way for reaching pre-determined milestones. Try not to use food as a reward, because it sets up a difficult habit to break, introducing the wrong idea that we “deserve” to have high-calorie treats that are unhealthy for us when we’ve done something difficult.
Instead, create active rewards, like taking your child to an exciting childrens gym. Kids ‘N Shape has locations in Queens and Staten Island that offer open play sessions that last two hours. When your child has fully accomplished their New Year’s Resolution, consider throwing them a big party where they can invite their friends to come to Kids ‘N Shape with them to celebrate their determination throughout the year. For more information on our parties and open play sessions, please contact Kids ‘N Shape childrens gym.
Comments are closed.