As teachers, parents, and caregivers, we must educate children on the values of good character. We want them to be able to grow up and navigate the world as responsible adults. Integrity, respect, and responsibility are all important traits for children to understand, but it isn’t always easy to teach kids how to exhibit them. Keep reading for five easy lessons on how to help teach the children in your life to be the best person they can be.

1. Defining Integrity: Making the right choice even when no one is looking
Integrity can be an intimidating word for kids, and it’s not one they hear often. For them to practice integrity, we have to explain it to them in a way they can understand. The simplest way to define integrity is how you act when no one is around. For example, integrity for a kid could be not taking an extra cookie after dinner when their parents leave the room or not cheating on a test when the teacher looks away.

2. Why integrity matters
It may be easy for kids to wonder what the point of integrity is. If no one is looking, and they won’t get in trouble, why does it matter what they do? The best way to explain why is to help them understand that integrity is more about your character: who you are inside rather than what you do. When you make the right choice, even if there are no consequences, it shows strong moral character, and understanding what’s right and wrong and making these decisions in the real world will help them to be better people.

3. The Value of Honesty
Teaching children to be truthful is something many of us strive for, but there are many times when a child lies to avoid getting in trouble. A big part of integrity is being honest, even if there may be consequences. It’s important to help kids understand that people respect honesty more than lying to protect themselves. Taking responsibility for your actions helps develop relationships with trust and respect. It also helps to let them know that when they are honest, there are consequences. The consequences aren’t a punishment and don’t mean that they are a bad person, but they are there to help them understand cause and effect and to not repeat their behavior.

Spend quality time together as a family with our free download. Get it HERE!

4. Respect: What it is and why it matters
Respect means thinking about others’ feelings and treating them with kindness. A great example to use is how kids treat their teachers or classmates. Being respectful could be listening to them when they’re talking and not interrupting, taking care of classroom materials, or following directions. Teach kids that doing these things means they value others and is a great way to show respect. It’s also important to teach them why respect matters. The golden rule is the best way to help children understand: treat others how you would want to be treated. If they were talking, they wouldn’t want to be interrupted or ignored, and if someone else was playing with their toys, they would want them to be careful. Teaching kids that respect shows they care about a person is a great way to help them develop the trait.

5. Responsibility: Developing trust
There are plenty of ways we can teach children to be responsible, and that starts with giving them a little responsibility. This looks different in every space, but it could mean having them do small chores around the house, like making their bed or taking turns cleaning up their class tables. When you give them responsibilities, make sure to explain to them that they are showing you they can be trusted and that as they grow older, they have more responsibilities but also more freedom because you’ve developed that trust.

These are just a few lessons on how to teach children strong character traits, but they are a great place to get started. And above all, the best way to teach children is to lead by example! Making sure that you’re honest, kind, and respectful will provide children with a good role model, and help them practice the traits themselves!

Dont forget to download your HERE!

Isabelle is an incoming senior at Eastern Michigan University with a major in Children’s and Young Adult Literature, a Publishing concentration and a minor in both Professional Writing and Literature. She is an avid reader of all fiction genres and enjoys writing, especially poetry. She is currently working on her own fantasy novel. She is also a huge Swiftie and loves spending time with her three younger sisters.

The post Helping Children Develop Strong Character Traits appeared first on Maria Dismondy.