Use Simple Neuroscience Tricks to Make You Child Form New Habits

It has been long known that what makes some people successful is the actions they take to pursue their goals. Some scientists believe that the secret to becoming good at something is to create routines that help you grow. And, as we all know, routines are made of simple small habits. A habit is an automated action that we do not think about while performing it.

But what does this have to do with our children? Well, if you want your child to have more self-discipline and to gain skills that will help in life, a great thing you can teach them is how to develop sustainable habits so that they can automate more actions and focus on other things that interest them without feeling overwhelmed and quitting.

When you want to buy a trap for chipmunks, you may want to do some research first and read about the most effective traps before you buy the best one. The same is valid for helping your child acquire a new habit. After you understand what the most effective ways to do it are, you will be able to successfully help them.

The neuroscience behind habit formation

Although the science behind forming habits is vast, there is an essential thing that makes a great difference when it comes to acquiring new habits. It is the fact that the action you take has to give you instant gratification, some pleasure that you get immediately after you perform that action. 

The action also has to be enjoyable so that the brain won’t want to avoid it the next time you have to do it. The great thing about habits is that, after they become automated, you do not have to pay so much attention to these things, but, until they do, you have to keep them in mind.

The tricks

When they are young, children have to learn how to transform a lot of their actions into habits. They have to learn to wash their teeth daily, to wash their hands after they use the toilet, they have to learn that they have to go to bed at a certain hour every night. 

These actions may become great challenges for a lot of parents, especially because they do not produce instant gratification, you can see the effects after years of performing them and, even then, your children might not see them as gratifications.

So what can you do to trick your child to wash their teeth every morning? First of all, you have to make the activity enjoyable. So, if your child doesn’t like the minty taste of their toothpaste, try to buy one that has a flavor that your child likes. If they like strawberries, make them use one that has a strawberry taste. 

After you have made the action enjoyable, you have to provide a reward. A great reward is to keep a board where you can put a red heart every time your child brushes teeth and after they get 7 hearts, they can eat something they really enjoy, like a piece of cake or a cookie.

The board has an important role – to determine your child’s brain to release dopamine, which will make them want to gather more hearts and anticipate the pleasure of eating a cookie. This way your child will be eagre to wash their teeth to get a heart and will enjoy doing it because the toothpaste tastes great.

Soon, the action of brushing teeth will become automated and, after some time, you will not need any gratification system because it will become a habit.