Teach Your Child To Be A Great Neighbor

Getting your kids involved in doing little acts of random kindness can be a great family bonding time. More importantly, this is a good way to teach them about being grateful while also making them more mindful and aware of other people’s needs. It will also help your kids understand the effects of their actions especially among the people who belong in your neighborhood. When you teach them to be good neighbors, you are helping them understand what it takes to build a community. This is especially helpful these days when people seem to be living rather rushed and fast-paced lives.

Small acts of kindness can have a massive effect on the people they are directed to. It can even spell the difference to a person’s day. Whether anonymous or not, these are things that you want to inculcate into your kids so they become great members of the neighborhood despite their young age. Here are some ways on how you can teach your little ones how to become good neighbors.

Put in place routines and boundaries with the neighbors.

A lot of people might think that something like this would be obvious but with the way people are leading very busy lives these days, small things like these can be sometimes overlooked. Find out what is okay and what is not as far as your neighbors go. It is always easier to build relationships with these people around you when you know exactly where things stand. Some neighbors might prefer quiet at certain times of the day. Others might prefer for kids to know on their door first before retrieving toys that may stray into their yards. Asking these questions will help show to them that you and your family respect them and care about their needs and their wishes.

Teach your kids about literal boundaries.

It is best to explain to your children while they’re still quite young about the boundaries of your property. Explain to them where yours end and where the neighbor’s begins. Whatever you have discussed with the neighbors about boundaries, share them with your kids too so they will know what they are allowed and not allowed to do when it comes to areas that are beyond your property.

Teach your kids about figurative boundaries.

Explain to your kids about how some of the things that they are doing within your property may be totally alright with you, but might not be with the neighbors. For instance, if they love making noises in your property, neighbors might not find it very pleasing. Sure, you can easily tune their noises out, but other people might not be too keen on dealing with such noises. Explaining to them what is tolerable and what isn’t will help make them become better neighbors as they grow.

Never cover things up.

Despite your attempts at making sure that everything is in order, it isn’t always going to be. When accidents happen, make sure to teach your kids the proper things to do. They are always bound to make missteps. The key is in making sure that they are aware of the mistake and they know exactly what it is they need to do to correct it and make sure they won’t repeat it in the future.

Teach kids to always look for chances to serve and help.

Teach your kids to always be willing to extend a helping hand to people that need it. Offering a hand to help a neighbor who’s struggling with their groceries can be more than enough to brighten their day. There is a great satisfaction out of helping others and your kids will not only be netter neighbors but also better people in general when you inculcate in them early on how important that is.