How to encourage Perseverance

I’ve always felt that one of the most important lessons to teach our children is perseverance. I find it is also one of the hardest. Some children may naturally have more persistent characters, but many will need to work on developing perseverance.

Promote independence

One of the earliest things we can do is to allow our children the time and the space to do things independently. When we take over the more challenging tasks at the first sign of struggle, they are more likely to give up when encountering difficulties. It may take two or three times as long for them to put those shoes on, but when they do succeed it will give them a huge sense of achievement and help build their confidence.

Modelling

Another important way to teach perseverance is through modelling. When encountering a new toy or activity, it is common for little ones to give up when they are not immediately able to do it. However, when demonstrating how to do the activity, if you also show how you struggle, fail, persist, and ultimately succeed, they are also more likely to persevere for longer.

Our son was 22 months in this video

 Other ways to build perseverance:

• Praise their effort when working through a difficult task. To encourage intrinsic motivation, be sure to praise the effort rather than the outcome. The goal is to build stamina when encountering difficulties.

• Show them how to break down difficult tasks into smaller more manageable steps.

• Notice and acknowledge when they demonstrate perseverance in a task they find difficult.

• Continue to present new and enjoyable challenges for them as they grow. The challenges should be at a level of difficulty that will stretch them, but not so difficult that they are unable to complete them.

Every success will build on top of the last and will give your child the confidence to persevere through difficult tasks. Our Directory is filled with toy and activity recommendations that follow the different stages of a child’s development. It is a resource for learning through play that parents can continue referring to as your children grow and develop and look for new challenges.