The importance of building children’s character
Building character starts at an early age. It is believed that character building is at its most effective during time spent in a kindergarten. Learning about character in kindergarten can shape kids’ character for the rest of their lives. It all boils down to the environment. Thus it is essential to place emphasis on a safe and secure environment that provides the opportunity to form certain routines and habits. Usually, for children the easiest way to learn is through songs, stories and different games that are played at home or in kindergarten.
This phase in the development of children is also known as the golden age. Some research show that at the age of 0 to 6 years old, children are able to absorb a striking amount of material around them. Experts also indicate that language is developed during these years and can be acquired until the age of 13. Therefore it is highly recommended that before the age of 13, children are provided with communicative language in order to develop emotionally and physically as well as intellectually.
Children start to build their character naturally by mimicking others and imitating words that their parents usually use. Children are also very curious and thus they actively explore their environment in order to gather new information. In addition to questioning about everything that interests them, at some point kids will also start learning negative behaviors when dealing with “bad” environment. Thus, character building is an essential part of early childhood education.
The standards of early childhood education divide character building into two domains; moral and religious as well as social and emotional. Religion and moral domain deals with different rituals as well as understanding the difference between good and bad behavior, such as honesty, helpfulness, being polite and respect for others. The social and emotional side on the other hand is concerned with things like sociocultural values, tolerance, expressing emotions and understanding rules. Sounds like a lot to be learned at a young age, but luckily there are tons of different activities that help with the learning process.
For ideas, here are a few things to try with your class:
— Play a pictionary game to encourage each other to practice friendliness by sharing.
— Wrap “gifts” for each other to learn about gratitude.
— Create a fun DIY banner to help celebrate the people and cultures around us — learning diversity appreciation.
— Teach children empathy by learning how it feels to stand in someone else’s shoes.
— Spread love and teach children about joyfulness by painting heart shaped rocks.
For more interesting activities to build character, click on momentsaday.com!
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