With the New Year zooming in, we adults now think about our resolutions for the coming year. Well, after visiting with my son and his four year daughter, I realized this is the time of year that may help young children assume some new year resolutions of their own, while teaching them some daily responsibilities. Hanging on his kitchen wall is a responsibility chart by Melissa & Doug, a well known toy manufacturer of wooden toys. It is comprised of a magnetic board and a dry erase board as well. An abundance of magnets with various “responsibilities” such as clean your room, be patient, share and dress by yourself are included. You can also write in your own personal behaviors you feel your child needs to work on. Also included are reward magnets to place on the board for different days of the week. My granddaughter loves this board! She feels very proud when she can accomplish the tasks listed and put a reward magnet in place. My son always lets her pick a few of the “responsibilities herself, to see if she recognizes what she may need to work on. The Melissa & Doug Deluxe Magnetic Responsibility Chart offers a great way to introduce the idea of new years resolutions to young children, as well as a teaching tool to help them understand the importance of daily responsibilities.
Basically, the Elf on the Shelf is a little elf doll that your child names (ours is “Elfie”), as well as a book that explains what he does. Every night, the elf flies – using Christmas magic of course – back to the North Pole and tells Santa if the child was naughty or nice. When he returns to your house, he’s in a different spot. As soon as my son awakes, he runs to see where Elfie is. He also knows that “Elfie is watching” and he’d better be good so he can give a good report to Santa! What an awesome idea and a fun new tradition for our home.
