You and your family just moved into your new home with the help of Black Tie Moving. You noticed how compassionate your oldest was with one of the movers, and you were wondering how you ensure your youngest will have the same compassion.

Here are 4 steps to teach your children compassion!

Step 1: Lead by Example

Children learn best by mirroring what’s around them. This is why it’s so crucial that you don’t inadvertently teach your kids bad behaviors, as you never know when they are watching. However, this works the other way around too. If your child sees you acting with compassion, they will begin to learn how to mirror and mimic this behavior.

While it will take more than just having your child observe your compassion, it’s vital that they become aware of it while they’re too young to understand it fully themselves. This way, when you go to teach them more about the meaning of compassion, they will have an idea of what it looks like from when they were much younger.

Step 2: One Good Deed a Day

Once your child reaches the age of 6 or 7, you should consider adopting a “one good deed a day” method with them. The idea of this method is simple. You and your child make sure that you do one good deed a day that helps someone else. This could be as simple as giving a stranger a compliment or picking up a piece of trash.

After your child turns 10, start to encourage them to practice their one good deed on their own. You want them to build that awareness of how and when they can help someone. How you keep track of this is up to you. You don’t want to make your child think you don’t trust them, so perhaps going over their deeds once a week is a good starting point.

Step 3: Teach Them the Meaning of Compassion

Once your child is old enough to truly comprehend compassion, it’s time to start teaching them about the importance of it. You want to show them how compassion helps and heals the world. There are many resources to help you accomplish this. It’s important you figure out what will best encourage your child to learn more.

Books are a wonderful resource that can help children learn about compassion. You could either read these with your child or have them read alone. It’s best that you ask your child what they prefer. After learning about the meaning of compassion, be sure to have regular conversations with your child about their understanding of it. Oftentimes, you will find even you can learn something from them.

Step 4: Compassion With Themselves

The last, most important, and usually most challenging step is to teach your child to have compassion with themselves. You should start this early, but it becomes even more crucial as they reach the teenage years.

In order for a teenager to learn to have compassion with themselves, they need to believe they are worthy of it. This is why encouragement and compassion from you to them is vital. Teach them to love themselves for who they are. Consider having them journal and recite positive affirmations that are true to them.

Giving your child a designated space to play in your home is crucial for supporting their creativity and development, can help keep the rest of your home tidy as it will reduce toys and other clutter from piling up in other rooms, and will help keep energetic children who want to play out of your hair while you are working from home or performing important tasks around the house. If you don’t currently have a Hiner Outdoor Living backyard space in which your children can play, turning a bonus room in your home into a designated playroom can be a great option. 

Designing your child’s playroom and filling it with all of the toys, equipment, and miscellaneous items they need to have a good time does not need to be a difficult or expensive task! Keep reading to learn a few simple, cheap, creative options for your child’s playroom that they are sure to love. 

Chalk Wall 

If your child is passionate about art and loves to draw or paint, give them plenty of space to do so by installing a chalk wall in their playroom! Chalk walls are relatively inexpensive and easy to install, and are the perfect way to keep your child entertained for hours on end; plus, allowing them to use a chalk wall for their art will reduce the chances of them drawing, painting, or coloring on your actual walls. Many chalk walls have the potential to be magnetic, as well, allowing your child an additional opportunity to play and learn by incorporating decorative or educational magnetics into their drawings. 

TV 

If you don’t care about limiting your child’s screen time, giving them their very own TV in their playroom is the perfect way to keep them entertained during a long day of play; plus, giving them their own separate space to watch their favorite shows or movies will help to keep them occupied and out of your hair should you need to get work done at home or just want to enjoy some peace and quiet, and will reduce the chances of you and your child fighting for the remote when watching TV at the same time. 

Active Space 

Encouraging your child to be active can be done by incorporating a special space into their playroom that allows them to do so. From a mini trampoline to an indoor basketball hoop and all the possible toys and games in between, giving your child the space to move and play is crucial for their development and will allow them to release excess energy.

Buying Christmas gifts for children can be a challenge. While it might seem easy to purchase toys, games, or craft supplies for kids during the holiday season, it can be fairly overwhelming to find age appropriate gifts that most children don’t already have and will actually enjoy. Whether you work for hsi.com and have no time to do major holiday shopping or are just struggling to think of any ideas for gifts for the children in your life this season, here are some unique Christmas gifts that kids of all ages are sure to enjoy. 

Magic Mixies Magical Misting Crystal Ball with Interactive Plush Toy

This viral toy made waves on TikTok among children and adults alike. The interactive crystal ball requires users to fill a pot with “ingredients” before revealing an adorable – and magical – stuffed animal. Although the crystal ball can only “create” one stuffed animal, the toy can be used again and again and serves as an awesome night light for any child’s room. This gift will be at the top of many kids’ Christmas lists this season!

Little Tikes Toby 2 Director’s Camera

These days, many children dream of becoming a digital content creator on sites like YouTube and TikTok. Help them achieve this dream by gifting them an age appropriate camera like the Little Tikes Toby 2 Director’s Camera. Equipped with its own professional tripod, this camera can take photos and videos that are available for instant playback, so children can create their own content just like their favorite creators. Plus, these videos cannot be transferred to a computer or other device without the use of a USB chord, so you can trust that your children’s photos and videos will be kept safe. This is a great gift for young children!

Nintendo Switch 

If you’re looking to splurge on a gift for a loved one, a foolproof gift for recipients of all ages is a Nintendo Switch. The Switch is one of the most popular gaming consoles in the world, and is sure to be enjoyed by gamers of all ages – from young children all the way to their parents. With countless games available for physical purchase and instant download, the Switch is a gift that keeps giving, and is sure to be a hit this Christmas season.

Moving can be a stressful time for anyone, but especially young children who might have difficulty adjusting to a new environment and handling the transitioning period. Whether you’re planning a cross country relocation for a new job or just moving to a new home on the other side of town, leaving behind the home that your child is familiar with and potentially requiring them to transfer schools and learn to navigate a new area can be equal parts upsetting and stressful. Moving is a fairly inevitable – and often worthwhile – part of life, and one that children are typically able to adjust to in time. Keep reading for a few simple tips on how to make moving easier for your child. 

Keep Explanations Simple 

Moving can be overwhelming for young children as they might feel like everything around them is changing, without them having any say. To avoid overwhelming them further and giving them anxiety about any potential factors of the move that could be challenging, try keeping your explanations to a minimum until your child comes to you with questions about what is happening. For many parents, this can be as simple as letting your small child know that you are moving to a new house where they will have a new, better bedroom and a different space to play. 

Pack Their Belongings Last 

To give your child a familiar safe haven amidst the chaos of moving, it is important to avoid packing up their room until it is absolutely necessary. The day before your movers from Black Tie Moving come to collect your belongings is a good time to pack up your child’s toys and bedding. Additionally, you should be sure to unpack their things and set up their bedroom as much as possible first, before doing anything else in your new home. It is important that your child has a place that is familiar to them and any items they might need to soothe themselves after a stressful day of moving. 

Let Them Say Goodbye

In the midst of the excitement of a move to a new home, don’t forget the importance of giving your child time to handle their emotions and say goodbye to your home, in addition to giving them time to say goodbye to friends, classmates, and teachers if your move is requiring them to switch schools. From taking plenty of pictures in your old house to letting them host a goodbye party with their friends, it is important for your child’s emotional health to give them the opportunity to say a proper goodbye to everyone and everything they want to. 

Whether your child is headed to their first check up or about to undergo a minor surgery, it is likely that the thought of visiting the doctor might make them feel a bit scared. While being afraid of or anxious about going to the doctor is normal for children of various ages, as a parent, it can be heartbreaking to watch your child experience such difficult emotions. Going to the doctor’s office is an important part of keeping your child healthy, so it is important that you work with them to ease their anxiety. Here are a few tips for helping your child get over their fear of the doctor. 

Set a Good Example

Often, children are nervous about going to the doctor because it is something that is relatively unfamiliar to them. One of the biggest ways you can help your child to feel less anxious ahead of a doctor’s appointment is by setting a good example. Whether you’re going to the doctor for your own annual checkup or about to undergo a minimally invasive surgical procedure at Northwest Surgery Center, having a positive attitude and speaking about the doctor in an assuring way can help your child feel more comfortable going to their own appointment. 

Offer Distractions

Children often allow their anxiety about the doctor to build for hours or even days, making their imagined experience of what their visit will be like much worse than it actually ends up being. To calm your child’s fears and keep their anxious thoughts at bay, try offering them a distraction. Whether it’s talking to them about a different subject on the car ride to the doctor or allowing them to watch their favorite show or YouTube video on your phone or tablet during their appointment, keeping their minds busy can work wonders for calming them down and keeping them from feeling quite as anxious. 

Provide Incentives

Sometimes, it can be difficult to ease your child’s fears about the doctor altogether. When this is the case, your next best option might be to reward them for good behavior at a medical appointment in spite of their fears. Offering to take your child to their favorite restaurant, buying them a new toy, or giving them another incentive to make it through their appointment might be just what they need to face their fears.