Understanding behaviour

Young children are like tiny scientists: they quickly learn that doing something means getting something – your attention – in return.

• Rewarding good behaviour makes your child feel good: they’ll want to repeat those actions to get more praise and encouragement from you.
• Children love attention – even negative attention like scolding or criticism can seem better than nothing. Try to respond rather than reacting to challenging behaviour, and save your attention for the things they do well.
• Try to stay calm in tough situations. If your little one sees you shouting when you’re angry they’ll learn that ‘angry’ = shouting, and that’s how to respond to their own feelings.
• Take it easy on yourself! Things won’t always go smoothly – like anything, teaching good behaviour (and coping with the rest) takes patience and practice.

You’ll find more detailed suggestion for teaching or responding to behaviour in the other articles in this section.

Want more advice or support?

You can talk via online chat to our family support workers and get advice specific to your situation and your family.

Visit www.actionforchildren.org.uk/talk