Practicing Patience
Practicing patience will help children get better at waiting.
Little ones don’t understand time the way that grown-ups do! Sometimes even a few minutes can feel like an hour, and it can be difficult to wait patiently. Though kids can’t be expected to wait for long stretches, you can find fun ways to pass the time. Try to:
- Give kids a special challenge such as spying things that are red, counting people in line, or making up a story about something they see.
- Look around and do a letter or word hunt! Help kids search for the first letter in their name, or for a particular word, such as “stop” on a stop sign.
- Explain time in a way that little ones will understand. If kids ask, “How long?,” you might say, “As long as it takes to brush your teeth,” or, “As long as it takes to walk to school.”
As kids learn more strategies for keeping busy while waiting, it will get easier and easier to be patient!
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