How to get your children to clean their room... and love it!
Getting your children to clean their rooms is a piece of cake if you know how to motivate them. My children loved the Clean The Clutter Game. Gather your children and let them know you are about to play a game, but don’t tell them what it is the first time. Present them with a prize to be awarded at the completion of the game (gummy vitamins, a special treat, TV show, etc.) With all your best excitement, announce that you are going to race up to their room and play the “Captu
3 surefire ways to teach children to share
Children have an innate sense of fairness. They also often have an innate sense to look out for themselves. Both are survival instincts. The quality that will dominate in your household is the one you nurture. TIP #1: Last Pick Whenever there is a special treat to share in your home, like the last cupcake, let one child divide it into equal parts and the other child (children) choose their portions first. You’ll never see such perfectly fair portions in your life and your chi
3 ways to avoid meltdowns
adobestock/firma v Let's make no mistake, family night is not just about sharing the glorious, picturesque moments of being a family, they're about creating a healthy family culture— and that takes work. Sure, there will be plenty of Norman Rockwell scenes as you develop your family nights, but along the way I can pretty much guarantee a few scene's from Alfred Hitchcock's famous horror show, "The Birds." In many cases you are establishing your family rules, presenting your f
The truth about "Good" children
One of the more interesting observations I've made as a mother is how my children responded when their siblings were in trouble. They might as well have jumped up and down shouting, "I'm the good one." They would pull out all the stops to make their point. They suddenly had excellent manners, they'd point out what they were doing right and they'd make sure I knew they were not doing what their sibling did wrong. I just thought my kids were weird, but I realized my students ba
How to tell a captivating story
Storytellers deliver their art with the same precision as a singer who masterfully delivers a spellbinding song. We’ve all heard a song that reached into our heart at some point. You don’t just hear it, you feel it. Musicians practice note quality, pitch, inflections, dynamics, nuances, and phrasing in hopes that their music will bypass the listener’s ears and enter their soul. When this is done well, the result is often an emotional experience. The same holds true of a maste
What popularity and balloons have in common - you might be surprised
Children follow the “example” of popular peers because they see how others are attracted to them. This indirect form of peer pressure is called “example” or “conformity.” It’s the powerful force behind fashion and trends. The following activity is a fun way to show children the invisible power of peer pressure through static electricity. Materials: 3 balloons 2 chairs A long stick or ruler 2 pieces of string Blow up all 4 balloons. Set two of them to one side. Tie a 2-foot pi
How long is a child's attention span?
Championeers! is carefully sequenced to gain maximum benefit in a short amount of time. Family Night is just one night a week so we want every moment to count. Much of your success will depend on your mastery of timing and sequencing. The rule of thumb is that children can focus one minute for every year of their age. For example, the maximum time limit for a 5-year-old is 5 minutes. To accommodate this, you must change up activities every few minutes. Marketing studies on ad
The Power of Words
Children believe everything you tell them. If you tell your daughter she's a princess, it's a done deal. If you tell your child they are smart, they'll go out of their way to show you how smart. If you tell them they're dumb, they'll believe the lie, hook, line and sinker. No reasonable parent would ever purposefully tell their child they are dumb, right? Wrong. Parent's get frustrated, and when they do, phrases like the following are all too common. "How could you be so stup
3 simple tricks to fun family nights.
I trust you are having a blast in your Family Night Adventures. I also want to encourage you to be patient if you're having some rough spots. It can take a little bit to get in the flow of things and re-establish your family culture. Here are some tricks to help you get that flow going. #1 Fake it until you make it Kids just want to have fun! They aren't too concerned with what that looks like as long as it's fun. If you tell them it's fun, and you act like it's fun, they'll
How to teach children kindness.
The Great Mentos and Coke Experiment Children have a kindness button sewn into them. This may be debated by some, but I have found that children innately understand what kindness is and how it feels. This is called empathy. Take the famous Special Olympics image of the young athlete who fell down, only to have the entire team of runners come to his aid, link arms and cross the finish line together. No one taught them to do that, it's just what one does. Their act of kindness
