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You are here: Home / Parenting / Teaching Kids About Character Traits

Teaching Kids About Character Traits

May 20, 2014 by Sue Lively

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Welcome to the first instalment of the Teaching Kids About Character alphabetic journey. This series is an in-depth look at a variety of positive parenting strategies to help raise kids with great character.

We’ll be covering topics that many parents put high on their list of wishes for their children, including honesty, assertiveness, gratefulness, confidence and happiness. Thanks so much for joining me!

Teaching Kids Character

An Alphabetic Journey

For the next 25 weeks, One Time Through will feature a post on each of the positive character traits listed above. I’ve tried my best for each post to include a description of the trait and why it is important for children to develop, as well as a variety of strategies to use as a parent should you agree with me that it is a valuable one to encourage in your child.

You may find that you consider some of these traits more important than others. And you may not agree with me that some of these traits are important at all for your children, and that’s okay!

Whoever you are, and wherever you are in your parenting and personal life journey – something brought you to this page to read this series. My goal while you’re here, is to get you to think about what really matters to you and your family – and to become a more aware parent in general – whether you agree with me or not.

I’m really excited about this project, and really encourage YOU to contribute your ideas and thoughts on each trait as we go on this alphabetic journey.  I really think it will be fun to hear others’ approaches and ideas for teaching their kids these traits.

So – without adieu – let’s get started with our first trait… adventurous.

A is for Adventurous

A is for Adventurous

Both my husband and I consider ourselves to be adventurous spirits!  Not the hardcore, climbing Mount Everest adventurist types, but we are the kind of people who enjoy car-trip holidays and veering off from the main path to explore.

When my son was a small baby, my husband and I felt really restricted in how adventurous we could be. After all, how far can you drive with a baby who screams the whole way (I think Onetime used to get carsick when his seat faced backwards!)

So, we made due with smaller adventures.  Trips to places in town and local parks became staple visits. And soon, as Onetime grew into a toddler, I realized that to him, these mini-adventures were BIG and exciting!

After all, isn’t that one of the things many of us love about being a parent – seeing old experiences become fresh through the eyes of our kids?

Benefits of Encouraging An Adventurous Child

For my husband and I, going on family adventures is a fun way to connect as a family, as well as an authentic way to encourage our son to learn more about people and the world around him.

We want our son to be curious about his world, and to develop the confidence to explore it in every way that he wants.

Going on mini-adventures helps expose kids to the natural world around them, to occupations that people choose, it introduces the history of our area, and provides a rich base of experiences that are valuable for learning and building upon in school.

Favourite Mini-Adventures So Far…

Some of our favourite mini-adventures have been those close to home, and relatively inexpensive. It seems that an attitude of excitement and exploration on our part is enough to generate excitement in our son.

The best part of teaching our son to be an adventurous spirit is to see his eyes light up when I tell him, “We’re going on a new adventure today!” (even if it’s just to a new grocery store!)

Fire Station Visit
The local Fire Station where Onetime got to “drive” a firetruck and spray a hose at a target!  He wanted to play firefighter daily for at least a month after that visit and still talks about it almost a year later!
Adventurous - Airport Visit
The small Airport just outside of town where you can bring a picnic and watch the Cesnas take off and land every few minutes in the summer.  Did I mention that one of Onetime’s first sign language signs was Airplane?
Butterfly Museum
The local Butterfly Museum where we could sweat it out with the tropical plants and butterflies while in the midst of the Canadian winter was a huge hit!
Adventurous Curling
The Fergus Scottish Highlands Festival where Onetime loved watching the Scottish hammer throw, hearing the bagpipes up close for the first time, and even got to try out some curling!
Hiking Collage
Just about any hike at a local trail or conservation area is a favourite experience.  Looking for trail markers, and finding huge mushrooms, or talking snails, or a giant wasp nest.  It seems we always find something exciting!
Adventurous Fall Fair
And of course – Fall Fair and Pumpkin Patch trips.  Corn sensory bins with tractors, picking your own pumpkin and apples, and climbing the haystacks!  What more could a kid want?
Adventurous Dressing Up
Terrific adventures can be had inside too.  A few costume pieces and an unusual prop and we’ve got a whole imaginary world of fun!
Adventures Collecting Seeds
Often our adventures are just in our own backyard or local park.  We had a great time collecting seeds a few weeks ago in the neighbourhood, and had a lot of fun on a Spring photo scavenger hunt too!

There are so many great adventure ideas that I’ve gathered from friends that aren’t included above, so I put together a list of ideas for simple adventures that you can try with your children.

Summer Mini-Adventures Bucket List Printable

Think of it as a mini-adventures Bucket List.  Click on the picture above to download your free copy.

What have been your best mini-adventures?  Have you found any places that your kids loved that were unexpected? Leave a comment below.

Read all of the Teaching Kids Character posts here.

Teaching Kids Character
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Character Series Promo
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Filed Under: Character Series, Parenting Tagged With: teaching

Previous Post: « How to Make Milky Fireworks for Victoria Day
Next Post: B is for Behaved: An Alphabetic Journey »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Charly Dove says

    May 20, 2014 at 4:24 pm

    Oh wow Sue what a great idea. Fabulous post too, absolutely love all the adventures, just brilliant Thank you so much for sharing and joining in #alphabetphoto (the B Linky is live at 6am tomorrow)

    • Sue Lively says

      May 20, 2014 at 7:48 pm

      Thanks Charly! and Thanks for the inspiration! We are really looking forward to the rest of the alphabet!

  2. Maureen Fraser says

    May 21, 2014 at 2:43 pm

    A wonderful idea Sue. A good reminder about what is available, sometimes at little cost. Beats TV.

    • Sue Lively says

      May 21, 2014 at 2:54 pm

      Thanks for dropping by! Usually those free/cheap activities end up being Onetime’s favourites!

  3. Tarana Khan says

    May 21, 2014 at 3:58 pm

    This is such a wonderful idea! I’m looking forward to your series.

    • Sue Lively says

      May 21, 2014 at 8:16 pm

      Thanks Tarana! I saw that you’re a part of the Alphabet Project too! Let’s link up! I’ll add your blog link to the bottom of my posts.

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