6 Tips To Keep Your Kids Focused And Moving In The Right Direction

Getting kids to do the things you want can often be a little tricky. I am sure you have had to get creative when trying to convince them that your idea is the best idea. If you are in need of some ideas to keep your little one focused and moving in the right direction then continue reading. 🙂

In our last post “The Shocking Truth About Setting Your Kids Free” I talked about letting our two and half year old hike by herself. I mentioned how frustrating and exhausting it was, and that she went a lot further than I expected. What I didn’t share was how we helped her to do it.

(This post is mainly based on hiking but can apply at home, at the park, at a store, or basically anywhere.)

Tip #1

Have a goal. On our hike we set a goal for Emery to hike to the lake. You want to make sure that they agree with the goal and that it is exciting for them. If you set a goal with your kid it can help them understand what they need to achieve. It can also help when they start whining and complaining, because then you will be able to remind them of their goal and get them excited to reach it.

Tip #2

Figure out what gets your child excited. Kids are constantly changing. So what may excite them one day may be different the next. It may also depend where you are and what is surrounding you that may change what they get excited about. While we where hiking there was a lot of waterfalls, streams, and puddles. So for this trip I recognized that water is what got her excited. So anytime she lost focus of her goal then we would search for water and get her excited when we found a puddle or stream.

Tip #3

Get her excited to see new things. In tip 2 you were figuring out what excited your child. With this tip you are thinking of new things that will excite them. This one works really well, because your surrounding are usually changing. The more excited you get the better too. 🙂 It is also a great way to teach your kids about new things. Things we have recently gotten excited about, that then gets her excited is roots on the trail, flowers, rocks, different colored dirt, trees, different shaped leaves, bugs, or a beautiful view.

How it works: We usually are trying to get her to a certain point so we go to that point and find that new and exciting thing. We usually say something along the lines of, “look what I found”, “look at this”,  or “guess what I found.” It piques her interest and gets her running to where ever we are.

Tip #4

Let them explore. Where ever you are, what ever you are doing, take some time to slow down. Let them explore their surroundings.  This tip goes really well with tip 3. As they are having fun exploring by themselves then you can easily point out new things for them to explore and get excited about. Let them pick flowers and leaves. Jump in a puddle and pack their pockets full of rocks.

Tip #5

Make up games. This one takes a little creativity, but is honestly the best one! If your child is not doing something that you would like them to do then create a game that will help them want to do it. For our hikes we seem to create a new game every time. Some of our favorites are shadow jumping and pine cone smashing. They are the simplest games but boy do they keep her moving in the direction we want.

Shadow Jumping: The name is pretty self explanatory. We basically find a shadow and run through the sun to the next shadow. So simple, yet she was ecstatic about it. To add a little bit more excitement, while running through the sun we would say, “we have to hurry or else we will melt”. Boy did she hurry! We would get to the next shadow, take a quick break, and get her excited to run to the next one. We did this over and over and we sure covered a lot of ground quickly playing this game. 🙂

Pine Cone Smashing: Again, self explanatory. We just smash the pine cones on the trail. Again so simple, but exciting to a 2 year old. She even started naming the pine cones, “Mama” “Daddy” “Mazie” and “Emery”. Before she would jump on one she would name it. She would laugh histarically after she would smash one of her named pine cones. We would then point out “Mama” and “Daddy” pine cones and race to see who could smash it first.

Tip #6

Sometime an incentive is needed. We have a tradition of getting ice cream after every hike or camping trip that we do. But we like to remind Emery that she can have her very own ice cream if she reaches her goal. If she doesn’t make it then she has to share. So we make “having your very own” sound very exciting. Sometimes we will have little treats like starbursts or honey candy for her when she accomplishes a mini goal. When she makes it to the next hill, the big rock up a head, the giant tree, or to her Daddy waiting up ahead.

 

I hope at least one of these tips will be useful. They have definitely helped us to survive and keep from pulling our hair out. 🙂 Hiking with kids is not always easy but it is always worth it.

We are always looking for other ways to keep kids happy while on the trail (in a store or at the park) so please share your ideas with us.

-Adam and Paige
#PowerParents

 

P.S. We love adventuring together. We love being able to hike with our kids when and where we want.       Learn how we became digital marketers to live life by design.

 

If this is useful let us know, comment below, or snap a photo of your adventures and hashtag it #Embrace_The_kids — We love to see the fun things you are doing and the adventures you are going on. Find us: @Embrace_The_Kids

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