Think back to your kindergarten classroom. Picture the walls. Do you remember the crayons displaying color names, the alphabet train, or the board displaying your prized artwork? How about the most important poster in the room, the class rules? Oh yes, the one your teacher would refer mischievous little “Jimmy” to about 40 times a day while stating the number one class rule. Say it with me now, “KEEP YOUR HANDS TO YOURSELF!”
If I had a dollar every time I used that phrase while teaching kindergarten—well let’s face it, I still wouldn’t get paid enough as a teacher! So let’s just say I used that phrase a lot.
Self-control is one of the hardest concepts to teach children, and seems to be the hardest for them to grasp. Young children discover their world by using all of their senses, and are testing their boundaries while doing it. It’s important to allow your child to play, observe, interact, and discover new things on their own, but teaching them to use self-control is equally as important! Self-control is crucial to their success and well-being as adults. If you’ve ever met an adult without self-control, you know what I mean!
Here’s a quick and fun lesson to do with your little ones to help them grasp the concept of self-control!
Lesson on Self-Control
What is self control to children? When you’re in a tough situation and you’re able to keep yourself from doing harm, or able to hold back while waiting patiently for a reward
What you will need-
A bag of your child’s favorite treat or reward (Cookies, raisins, quarters, or if you’re my daughter, coconut date rolls!)
A plate
How to start-
Sit at a table with your child. Place the plate in between you and your child, and hold the bag of treats in your hand. (For the purpose of this lesson, we’ll say it’s a cookie.) Tell your child that you want to give them a cookie, and place it on the plate in front of you. Before handing them the plate, tell them that if they would like, they can eat the cookie now and be done. However, if they want to wait, you will put another cookie on the plate in one minute, and then they can have two cookies! You can shorten or lengthen the time depending on the age of your child.
The very young child may have a hard time understanding, and will probably take the cookie right away the first time you do this. It may help to have an older child or adult sit next to them and show them what happens when you wait. It won’t take long for them to catch on!
If you child decides to wait, be sure to keep encouraging and praising them for the use of self-control during the lesson as they wait. Help them to understand that using self-control in a tough situation is something to be praised! If they don’t wait, do not reprimand them, Keep in mind that this is TEACHING not correction. (See my post on the importance of teaching versus correction here.) Explain to them that you understand how tempting that cookie was, and that it must have been hard to try and wait.
Regardless of if your child waits or eats the cookie right away, talk with them about self-control after the lesson is over. Explain to them what it means to use self-control and how it can be helpful in life. Give examples of when and how they can use self-control over their emotions and actions: like when someone makes them angry, when they are saving their money, or when there is something that they want but can’t have. Remember that kids don’t always hear everything you say the first time. Surprised? Ha! Probably not. So the more you repeat a lesson, the more they’ll remember it and the better they’ll be able to grasp the concept!
As with any lesson, go as heavy or light into the lesson as you need. Know your child’s level of understanding and attention span and feed off their response. Don’t be afraid to completely stop a lesson if it’s not working at that moment, and make sure you’re having fun with it! The more fun you have, the more likely they are to remember it!
I would love to hear your comments on how this lesson goes with your little ones! Remember to click on the follow button on the top, right hand size of the page to stay up to date on new lessons and other helpful posts!
Photo Credit: Pretty In Print
The Well Nourished Nest 
Very well-written!