6 Tricks for Motivating Your Kids

Nowadays, many children are too docile. An early encounter with technology makes them numb and disinterested in stimuli from their environment, affecting their ability to focus and listen. While this might not be that important at a young age, it will become a nuisance as these kids grow older.

An average child has to fulfill their autonomy, relatedness, and mastery needs to achieve various educational and life goals. They will become well-rounded individuals who can act without your assistance if they accomplish all three. Unfortunately, getting to this point is much more complicated than you might think.

We’ve decided to create a list of six tricks that will motivate your children. These tips will make a real difference in their development, ensuring that the young ones become complete, independent persons.

1. Avoid Conventional Methods

While unique awards can create a sense of fulfillment, they aren't always ideal for motivating kids. Instead, we suggest you try some out-of-the-box methods. Parents should try intrinsic motivation, which includes all activities that provide a sense of inherent enjoyment. You need to choose an activity that is enjoyable to the infant instead of separating the reward from the activity. 

Most importantly, you should avoid any form of punishment or domination. These methods will force the child to behave in the manner you want them to, but only for a short while. Most children become numb to punishment as it becomes too familiar. What's worse, any type of punishment can lead to long-term trauma.

2. Spark Curiosity 

Children are curious by default and want to explore the world around them. Because of that, it's enough to let them be kids and stay out of their way. Parents' main task is to encourage learning and new experiences as a way of acquiring knowledge. You can also stimulate their minds by showing alternative ways of achieving their goals. 

Family members often make the mistake of pressuring their children. Added stress almost always backfires, making the knowledge process a burden. As a result, a child will quickly develop aversion, especially toward the topics that you're pushing too hard. We suggest you give them a certain level of autonomy while emphasizing the importance of a good education.

3. Improve Relationship

Whether or not your child will be obedient depends on their relationship with parents. Kids want to please anyone they care about, so they will follow your instructions as long as you have a good rapport. Among others, they will also adopt your values, which is crucial if you're a knowledge-driven individual.

Experts have various theories as to which approaches are the best in this particular case. Many argue that you need to introduce an authoritative parenting style to achieve the maximum effect. According to it, a parent needs to provide all the love and care while simultaneously setting strict boundaries. Furthermore, we suggest you always reason with your child so they understand your motivations.

4. Give Them Room

As mentioned, children need to have autonomy to achieve optimal results. Not only will this make the learning process more enjoyable, but it will also stimulate exploration. Although we suggest you show them the pros and cons of various actions and even suggest the best way of doing things, you still need to let them make their own mistakes.

Unfortunately, autonomy is a double-edged sword that can lead to unwanted effects. For example, if a kid has all the freedom in the world to make their choices, they will start avoiding any task that seems too dull or challenging. So, you'll still have to be there to set some ground rules and steer their course.

5. Promote Growth 

It's critical that your child learns the way of the world. It needs to understand the concepts of actions and consequences, but also that dedication is the only way to achieve specific goals. By instilling proper values into the young ones, they can develop a growth mindset that will guide them through all their academic efforts.

A child that thinks this way will not require any external motivation. Instead, they will be happy to embrace challenges as something that would help them grow. They will also have less through battling through setbacks. Good parents explain to their kids that the process itself is the reward and that they shouldn't skip any steps during their journey.

6. Be Proactive

Parents need to take a proactive role in their children's education, on top of providing a solid basis. For example, they should help them with troublesome classes or get them appointments with great tutors. If and when possible, parents can even buy educational software that will bring gamification into the mix.  

When you’re a part of kids’ activities, they quickly realize the importance of the process. Because of that, they will work extra hard just to please you. Working with parents will also increase the enjoyment for these young students, as long as you’re not pressuring them too hard.

Conclusion  

Motivating your child takes a lot of time. However, as long as you use a well-structured approach, you can slowly guide them to their goals. It’s vital that a kid understands the importance of education and all the benefits it can get later on in life. Furthermore, you also need to make the process as enjoyable as possible.