How To Encourage Your Children’s Independence As They Get Older

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When your kids are little, naturally you want to keep them close. But, as they start to get older, despite not wanting to be apart from them, you know that it’s important to encourage them to spread their wings and become a little more independent. 

While this step might be hard, if you want to ensure that your kids are able to grow into confident, independent adults, encouraging them to be independent is extremely important. It’s not always about big steps though, the process of encouraging independence is made up of lots of different steps, from small ones to slightly braver ones. 

Wondering what steps you should take to help encourage your children’s independence as they get older? Below is a guide to some of the steps that you should consider taking as a parent. 

Allow sleepovers (with parents your feel comfortable with)

Sleepovers can be scary for parents, especially when you don’t know the other child’s parents well and don’t feel comfortable with your child going to stay somewhere new. It’s tricky because, while you want to keep your kids safe, you also don’t want to clip their wings and stop them from doing new things. 

The best way to deal with sleepovers is to allow your children to go on sleepovers but only to places where you know and trust the parents. Never say yes to a sleepover if you feel uncomfortable about it, instead make sure that you’re comfortable with the setup and parents before agreeing to anything. 

Let them do things on their own 

It’s hard letting your kids start doing things on their own, but if you want to encourage their independence it’s important that you let your little ones (as they get older) do more and more on their own. 

You can start with little things, such as going to knock on a trusted neighbour’s door to hand over a package that was delivered to you for them, or by allowing your child to play outside of your house (if the street is safe). Then, as they get older, you could let them walk to the local shop with some friends, or walk to a friend’s house who lives close by on their own. 

Take the process slowly, building up to different things over time. What you want to do is give your children the skills that they need to be happy, healthy, confident adults who are able to thrive independently. 

Encourage school trips 

A great way to safely encourage your child’s independence is to allow them to go on whatever school tips they want to go on, including residential trips, such as school trips to Washington, or anywhere else for that matter. These kinds of residential trips are a great way to get your kids used to having some independence and being away from home in a different environment.

There you have it, a few simple ways to encourage your children’s independence as they get older.