Life is better when we take a sense of pride and care in the belongings we own, and of course, for the people we love. Children can massively benefit from learning these tools and techniques also, as when they begin to learn responsibility, taking a sense of ownership is often where the initiative comes.
Moreover, while children do sometimes learn by firm direction and boundary-setting, they also learn well by positive intent. So for example, demanding our child makes their bed each morning is an inferior approach to helping them feel pride in their bedroom, showing them how to do this process well, and also keep them in a routine, like changing bedsheets each Sunday.
Now, it's not going to be a perfect approach, and sometimes you may find it difficult. That's just parenthood, after all. Yet in this post, we hope the following four great lessons to teach your child can help them naturally curate a sense of ownership, and perhaps build their responsible faculties as a result:
Photo by Maël BALLAND : https://www.pexels.com/photo/boy-in-gray-jacket-reading-book-3457273/
Help Them Label
It's often helpful to have a marker of ownership for kids, and one of the best ways to get that going is through labels. So for instance, giving your child a box of markers and letting them apply their own name on labels for items like their pencil case, lunch bag, or favorite toys helps them feel like these items belong to them alone, and it may do. This act turns an an item into something a bit more special, because they get to put their personal stamp on it.
You could let them choose fun colors or drawings for their cute labels as well. Getting them involved in putting the labels on gives them a hands-on job to do, and it reinforces the idea that they're the caretaker for that belonging. When they see their name or their design on something, it helps them feel a bit more possessive and caring for it, even if the child's way of viewing this isn't necessarily tied to financial investment like it is with adults.
Go Through Small Repairs Together
Showing your child that their belongings can be fixed when they break is a fantastic lesson in ownership and taking care of belongings. You don't need be a perfect tailor of course, but think about simple fixes, like stitching up a tear in a stuffed animal, gluing a piece back onto a toy car, or taping up a ripped book cover.
It's also nice to have time that you spend doing it together, and you're showing them that their items have value above and beyond their purchase or gift, and that a little effort can restore something they love. This teaches them to respect their possessions, but it also shows them that it's not the utter end of the world of an accident does happen, as that obviously happens to us all even as we age.
Have A Special Storage Area
If you have a distinct place for your child to keep their most valued possessions, a place they can even display them more pridefully, it should help encourage tidiness and respect for what they own. If you spend a little time with them to set up a space that feels important and organized, it could be a proud moment. You don't necessarily need to spend a huge amount of this either, as a nice shelf for their favorite books, a drawer for their art supplies, or a bin for building blocks can be a good place to start.
Moreover, when a child knows where an object lives, putting it away becomes a something of a routine, not a frustrating chore you have to nag them about often. While you'll of course look over it and make sure it's being respected, in their eyes its their domain, and they get to be the boss of keeping it neat and tidy.
Include Them In The Buying Decisions (Patterns Etc)
You won't need to ask your child for approval about everything you buy, but giving them a say in choices like the color of their backpack, the pattern on their new blanket, or the style of their shoes is quite useful, as if they've felt respected enough to discuss it, odds are they'll want to look after it.
For instance, when they pick out the dinosaur pattern for their pajamas, they're going to feel a much stronger sense of pride in owning and caring for those pajamas than if you'd selected them yourself. It makes the experience fun for everyone too.
With this advice, we hope you can more easily teach your child developmental ownership, something they'll keep with them for years.
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