Teaching Kids About Character Traits

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!

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

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!)

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.

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.