HOW TO PROMOTE AUTONOMY IN CHILDREN AGED THREE TO SIX YEARS

During their first years of life, our children will begin to learn and acquire various skills that will allow them to fully develop and that will shape your personality.

As parents, we have to be their guides in this process, helping them to work on it during their first years and showing them the way to be independent little by little. We share some tips to promote autonomy in children aged 3 to 6 years.

Why it is important to promote autonomy from an early age

Autonomy is defined as the ability of oneself to make decisions without external intervention or influence. It is basically the ability to act according to own decisions independently and perform basic activities of daily living.

Motivating them to be safe and independent children, we will help them become adults with good self-esteem and able to face the different situations that are in your life. And how do we make that happen? Helping them to be autonomous since childhood.

In Babies and more13 tips to promote autonomy in children

Fortunately, promoting their autonomy is something we can easily do, although we don't always know how or where to start. Therefore, we list some tips and activities to help them promote autonomy from three to six years old.

How to promote autonomy in children aged three to six years

Help our children to start being autonomous people it's not just letting them start doing things on their own and that's it. It is a process that begins since they are babies, a stage in which we must offer them an environment in which they feel safe, loved and protected.

We will do this through attachment, which will help us create a strong bond with them. Another point to take into account is the environment in which they will develop. Both they will help you start building self-confidence and confidence, by offering them a safe and danger-free place, where they feel respected and loved, they can begin to explore freely (always under our supervision, of course).

Children are imitators by nature, and just around three years is when they begin to want to do the same things we do, sometimes even without our help. Some time ago we shared a board inspired by Montessori to help them be autonomous, which included recommended activities according to their age.

For the stage of three to six years, which is what interests us this time, some of the activities that children can do to promote their autonomy They are as follows:

Sort your stuff. These activities include simple things, such as asking them to pick up their toys and put the books in place after using them.
Put dirty clothes in the basket. Teach them that the clothes we already wear and are dirty or stained, go in the laundry basket, and then put it in the washing machine. If you already know this, you can also teach him to separate white clothes from colored clothes.
Choose your clothes and dress alone. From the age of three we can begin to allow them to participate in decision making and a great opportunity to do so, is by letting them choose the clothes they will wear. Further ahead, around the age of four or five, they can (and surely want to) dress alone.
Help at mealtime. From allowing them to set the table, to being your mini assistant while preparing food, inviting children to the kitchen is a good way to begin to involve them in activities that develop their autonomy and also to continue stimulating their learning.
Assist in the purchase of the super. Not only is it a great opportunity to spend time together, but it is also an activity that will allow us to help you be more autonomous. Allow your child to share helping you choose what they will wear, asking him to look for a product or letting him help you place the purchase on the super tape.

The idea is that children gradually get involved in daily activities that will help them to be a little more independent every day and also, that they can know and learn skills and responsibilities that will serve them for everyday life.

In Babies and more How to promote autonomy in children with fun tasks by ages, inspired by the Montessori table

Let him do and make a mistake

Perhaps for some parents the hardest part of fostering autonomy is the part of allow them to learn to do things alone and not fall for them seeing that at first they do not succeed, so we can guide ourselves in these three points:

Start by showing them how to do things through the example, always explaining it clearly and easily, according to their age.
Then, allowing them to try it, and if they fail, assess their effort and motivate them to try again.
And finally, praise their successes, but avoid exaggerated praise.

Remember that To promote autonomy at this stage from three to six years, avoid extremes: A stage begins in which we no longer have to do everything to them, but neither should we wait or demand them too much because they are still small. It is about gradually becoming more independent and self-confident, increasing their confidence in their ability to do things.