Discipline Games for Children

Using games to teach discipline to your children can turn a negative or undesirable situation into a positive scenario. Children who battle with boredom or feel oppressed will misbehave. If you slap or spank your child, you not only violate your child but teach him disrespect of a person's boundaries. Moreover, toddlers are not yet able to connect bad behavior with punishment. Encourage good behavior by engaging your child in fun discipline games in which your child can reap rewards and praise.

  1. Responsibility

    • Turn chores into a variety of games, including follow-the-leader, a race or basketball. Challenge your child to see who can pick up the most toys in the fastest time. Conduct the pace of your own picking up or cleaning so your child wins, particularly if your child is under five and struggles with the idea of losing. Play a follow-the-leader game by skipping into a cluttered room and asking your children to mimic you. Dance, clap and clean. Encourage your child to follow you. Take turns, allowing your child to lead, skip and clean. Pile freshly washed socks on the floor. Ask your child to match the socks. Position empty shoe boxes labeled with the names of family members. Demonstrate how to roll the socks into balls. Challenge your child to throw the socks into the correct boxes.

    Empathy

    • Draw faces with different expressions, such as mad, happy and sad, on construction paper. Place these papers in a basket. Ask your children to select a face. Have each one act out the expression. Direct the child to pretend to cry if she chooses a sad face. Challenge the other children to find out why she is sad by asking questions, and to help the child feel better. Gather props, which may include stuffed animals, plastic fruit, clothes and a toy first-aid kit. Ask the children to use the props, such as giving a pair of mittens to a child who is pretending to be cold and miserable.

    Teamwork

    • Take your kids to an area where they can move about freely. Give two balloons to each child. Direct them to work together to keep the balloons in the air when you say "Go." Advance the game by asking them to use only one part of their body, such as their nose or a fingertip, to keep the balloons in the air. Start the game by having your children play the first rounds for only 30 seconds each, and lengthen the time period as the game continues.

    Manners

    • Dictate a dozen sentences from a children's book into a recorder. Modulate your voice, using a courteous voice for half of the sentences and a grating voice for the other half. Play the recording for your child and ask him to raise his hand when he hears sentences that are pleasant to the ear. Have him record the same sentences in different voices, such as whiny, silly and polite. Play his recording so your child hears how tone of voice affects communication. Explain how to use your voice to exhibit good manners.

    2. Previous:

    Next:

    • How to Socialize an Only Child
      You should place a high priority on socializing an only child since he lacks the social opportunities available to large families. In fact, its crucial that an only child learn to be social so the child learns to share and interact normally with othe
    • Should My Son Be My Student in Preschool?
      Q I teach preschool to three- and four-year-olds and my son is in my class. Do you think that I should send him to another preschool in our area next year to get him ready for kindergarten or let him stay in my class? He has an older sister who has b
    • How to Make a Timid Child Bold
      You take your reluctant preschooler to a birthday party and she hides in the corner as you watch the other children laugh and play. Although you may worry this behavior is unusual in a toddler or young child, timidity or shyness is not necessarily un