Patience is a skill that we should cultivate from a young age. As a tool, it helps us better manage frustration , make better decisions and work more consciously and assertively to achieve our goals in life.
In a world ruled by immediacy, in the ephemeral and in “everything for now” it is undoubtedly a value that we should pay more attention to. As with most of the teachings that we want to pass on to our children, there are two very effective ways to do it: through example and play , bearing in mind that we must always get involved and accompany them in this process.
The best games to train patience in children
origami
This, without a doubt, is a perfect practice, among other things , to encourage patience in children through play , since to achieve the result they need to carry out a process that requires time and in which steps cannot be skipped. Being an activity that we will generally carry out with them when they are very young, we can talk about these concepts in an appropriate way so that they become familiar with them.
paint mandalas
Painting is one of the most beneficial activities to stimulate creativity and concentration in children. If they also use a mandala as a canvas, we also encourage patience. As they are drawings with small patterns, you need to invest time and do it slowly to achieve a good result.
assemble puzzles
Puzzles are another very useful and versatile game because there are even wooden versions, especially for very young children , which introduce them to the world of patience and perseverance (at first not being able to fit the pieces can be a bit frustrating, but it is great exercise for them).
Play boardgames
Among the many benefits that board games bring , a very important one is to strengthen the meaning of the “turn”. Internalizing the concept of time is a process, and with this exercise it will be easier for you to understand and put it into practice.
There are options with very simple rules, especially for young children. My advice is don’t push them to play the way it’s supposed to be played , because at first they just want to manipulate the pieces. Once their curiosity is satisfied, we can begin to interact with them and with the game gradually until they are able to understand what it consists of.
Other activities to train patience in children
Learn to play a musical instrument
In this case, patience comes from the number of repetitions that are needed both to learn to play an instrument itself, and to carry out a piece of music. Without a doubt, one of the best and most enriching activities that children can practice.
Crafts
As with origami, when we make crafts we must follow a series of steps (sometimes that include a certain wait, such as when we use glue), which can have a direct impact on the final result. It is a great way to teach them in a practical way what happens when we do not have patience and we want to speed up the processes.
Watch TV as a family
This is one of the activities with which we can reinforce the concept of “waiting for your turn”, especially when they are very young. At home, when we put on television, each one can choose a chapter of the drawings that they like the most. The older one understands it perfectly and it works great for us to achieve two objectives : first, that the younger one understands that she must wait to see what she wants after her sister (when it is her turn to choose first), and so that we are not time in front of screens gets out of hand .
