Responsibility is part of collaboration, one of the 6Cs at the heart of the Begin Approach to helping kids thrive in school and life. For your child, taking responsibility may look like putting away laundry at home or art supplies at school. But how can you teach kids responsibility?
In this article, we’ll look at 8 useful tips for teaching your child this lifelong skill.
Key Takeaways
- To help your child learn responsibility, ask them to be a helper, model responsibility, communicate their responsibilities clearly, provide routines, manage expectations, allow natural consequences, share responsibility for a pet and other living things, and give your child time to learn to act responsibly.
- Learning responsibility can start early in your child’s life and can give your child confidence, both in completing tasks and in making decisions.
- Children who are comfortable taking responsibility do better in school, become better social play partners, and are more successful at their jobs later in life.
- Taking responsibility is a critical part of collaboration, one of the 6Cs at the core of the Begin Approach to learning.
Table of Contents
- The Benefits of Learning Responsibility
- 8 Tips for Teaching Kids to Be Responsible
- What Can You Do If Your Child Won’t Take Responsibility?
The Benefits of Learning Responsibility
Learning how to take responsibility gives your child confidence, both in completing tasks and in problem-solving and making decisions. It also fosters a sense of independence and purpose.
Children who are comfortable taking responsibility do better in school, are better social play partners, and are more successful at their jobs and careers later in life.
8 Tips for Teaching Kids Responsibility
So how do you begin to instill a sense of responsibility in your child? Here are a few tips to get you started.
1) Ask Your Child to Be a Helper First
Before you ask your child to take on responsibilities, invite them to help you with specific tasks. Their involvement is a way to spend quality time together. Enjoy the process!
2) Model Responsibility
More than listening to us, our kids are watching us. If you model responsible behavior—cleaning up, admitting mistakes and fixing them, and helping other people—your child may begin to imitate you.
3) Communicate Responsibilities Clearly
When you give your child a responsibility, be specific and set expectations. (“Can you please pick up all your toys on the living room floor, and put them in the toy bin in your room?”)
When they’ve completed the task, make sure you acknowledge their accomplishment (“Thank you for taking the time to pick up your toys. That is so helpful to me!”)
4) Provide Routines
Your child is going to have an easier time incorporating responsibilities into their life if they can make it part of their routine.
For example, you might decide that your child helps clear the table every night. Or maybe they’re responsible for reading a book to a younger sibling while you cook dinner.
5) Manage Expectations
When you give your child a task to accomplish, they may not do it perfectly. Acknowledge their effort and make gentle corrections when necessary.
And expect that they may resist taking on a responsibility from time to time. When that happens, find out why your child is pushing back and use it as an opportunity for discussion.
6) Allow Natural Consequences
Often when your child fails to take responsibility, they will experience a natural consequence, which is a clear indication that one thing affects another.
For example, your child might be responsible for packing their backpack each night to prepare for school the next day. If they forget, they might not have everything they need. This kind of lesson sticks, so let it happen (as long as it doesn’t impact their physical well-being).
7) Sharing Responsibility for a Pet and Other Living Things
For children who have pets, the experience of taking care of them can bring home the benefits of responsibility in a meaningful way. They can see how a living creature they care deeply about is made happy and healthy through their efforts.
If your family doesn’t have pets, you can also try giving your child the responsibility of taking care of a house plant or helping you tend to a garden.
8) Give Your Child Time
Finally, don’t be afraid to give your child time to adjust to taking on a new responsibility. They may need to get used to a change in their routine and feel confident in their abilities.
What Can You Do If Your Child Won’t Take Responsibility?
First, don’t worry. Second, remember it’s a process. If your child doesn’t take on a responsibility that you want them to have, there’s always another opportunity!
Some ideas to help you set up your child for success:
- Find out why your child is pushing back and use it as an opportunity for discussion. It may be that they don’t understand what you’re asking them to do or don’t feel confident they can successfully do it.
- Make the responsibility smaller so it’s not overwhelming and is something they can do by themselves. (Tidying their desk versus cleaning their whole room.)
- Be clear about what you would like your child to do, show them how to do it, and give them a timeframe for getting it done. (For example, “Please make your bed before coming to breakfast in the morning.” Then demonstrate how to do it.)
Consistently taking responsibility doesn’t happen overnight. As long as your child is engaged in the learning process, they’re well on their way!
Resources for Responsibility
At Begin, we know that understanding and practicing collaborative skills, including responsibility, are important to a child’s development now and success in the future.
To support this early learning, we build activities that promote responsibility, empathy, and other social-emotional skills into many of our products, whether it’s a Little Passports kit, a Learn with Sesame Street by Begin game, or a story in HOMER.
As kids’ skills grow through these playful experiences, they’ll be ready to take on new responsibilities with confidence!
Frequently Asked Questions
What skills do children need to develop responsibility?
Many social-emotional skills are at the foundation of learning how to take responsibility. These include “inward-facing” skills like self-awareness, self-regulation, and confidence, as well as “outward-facing” ones like empathy, an awareness of others’ feelings, and the ability to communicate.
At what age can kids learn responsibility?
Kids can learn about taking responsibility from a pretty young age! As soon as your child is capable, give them chores appropriate for their age and abilities.
For example, ask them to bring their plate and cup to the sink after a meal or put toys back into a basket after they’ve played with them. Taking responsibility can become routine, especially if you start when your child is young.
