A child often becomes curious and motivate to explore and try to gradually do some things on his own between two to three years of age. Encourage your child to enjoy discovering new things around him with proper supervision. A child can learn a lot of things through experience. Try not to set a reasonable boundary in terms of self discovery. Although it is encouraging to see a child realize the exciting aspect of discovery, parents should always be on the look out. Child proof your house by removing potential dangers such as putting away medicines and harmful household cleaners, padding sharp furniture edges and covering electrical outlets.
As your child grows older, help him or her understand the concepts of needs and wants. Help your child distinguish between the two. Set concrete examples and categorize them accordingly.
Need pertains to important things in life that are important for survival. Want refers to a desire to have something that is not necessarily important to every day living. For example …
I need food, water, air and shelter.
I want a new toy.
As soon as a child learns how to count, you can gradually introduce him to the concept of money. Explain to him that money is not something that is always available inside your wallet or bag. Let them know that money is earned by working hard.
Teach children about the importance of saving money. Buy your child a cute piggy bank and encourage him to save his coins by dropping them inside the piggy bank.
For very young children, encourage savings creatively. You can tell you child that dropping coins inside the piggy bank is like feeding a pet pig. Each time a coin is dropped inside, the pig becomes happy. The more coins results to a happier pig.