The Importance of Giving Kids Choices

Most parents want to raise children who are independent and strong-willed. They want to teach their children to make smart decisions for themselves and to feel confident in their choices. In addition to modeling positive decision-making skills, you can foster independence from a young age by giving your kids choices. It’s as simple as it sounds: give your kids choices in their everyday lives so that they practice making decisions for themselves early on. Want to learn more about how it’s done and the impact it can make on your child’s future? Read on…

You can encourage your children to make decisions for themselves by integrating choices into their daily routine. For example, you can ask them “What do you want for dinner?” or tell them to “Pick one thing that you want to do today” on the weekend. The key is to give them options so that you’re fostering autonomy while still maintaining appropriate boundaries. This will help your children feel empowered and like they have responsibility surrounding what they do and how they act.

What are some of the benefits of giving your kids choices?

Improved problem-solving skills:
You’re allowing your kids to work through problems by having them determine the best solution in a given situation. They start to form connections between problems, decisions, and outcomes, so that they understand their choices will come with certain consequences, both good and bad. When their decision results in an undesired or unexpected outcome, your child will see how their choices lead to certain outcomes; over time, they will learn to make a better decision next time based on their past experiences.

Empowerment—and as a result, less tantrums:
Your kids will feel empowered when they start to make choices for themselves. Rather than feeling like every choice is made for them, they will feel like they have a say in their daily activities, which in turn will lessen their tantrum behavior.

Understanding of cause and effect:
Your children will better understand the impact of their decisions. They’ll get a better sense of what’s involved in making the right choice, and what may lead them to make the wrong choice. For example, their impulse may lead them to make decisions that aren’t the best for them. Once they see what happens when they act on impulse and make the “wrong” choice, they will learn from their mistakes and with your guidance, learn to understand why their decision wasn’t the best.

Increased confidence:
When you give your children the power to choose, they see that their opinion matters to you as a parent. They see that you trust them to make choices for themselves (even if they’re small ones at first). By allowing them to make choices, it helps them stay calm in anxiety producing situations by outweighing the pros and cons of each situation. This will be the first step in aiding autonomy while still offering developmentally appropriate choices. They will feel proud of the fact that they are able to make a choice.

It takes time for kids to build strong decision-making skills, a sense of confidence, and independence. It won’t happen overnight. However, by introducing choices into your kids’ lives from a young age, you can give your kids a healthy head start. Begin with simple choices, like picking out their outfit for the next day or choosing between a few options for a snack. Then you can work your way to higher-responsibility decisions in which your kids learn about the consequences of their actions. The key is to start small, gradually increase their say in everyday activities, and take it one choice at a time!