Teach Children Cause and Effect.

Cause and effect is the relationship between an action and its outcome. Children are curious in nature and love to explore. Soon after the age of two, their curiosity expands and they begin to understand that they can do interesting experiments with their toys. Like when they place a ball on a slanted surface, it rolls. This is the beginning of their understanding of cause-and-effect relationships. Moreover, even parents unknowingly push the idea of cause-and-effect to the children from the very beginning. For example, “If you drink your milk, you will grow big and strong!” or “If you clean up your toys, you can go play outside.”

Whether children recognize cause-and-effect relationships or not, they are affected by it every day. Therefore, it is important to teach the causes and effects to children, especially of the things they are surrounded, it will help them to gain better control over themselves and various events of life. To be successful in their lives, children need to be able to understand these relationships so that they are able to think logically in their personal and academic lives. It is not a strategy that can be mastered in a few lessons. Learning cause and effect begins at the early age and never stops.

You can continue teaching cause and effect to your children in an intentional method by demonstrating that one event is the result of another. See the examples below.

  • If you’re out in the sun for long, you will get sunburns.”
  • “If you are out in the snow, you could catch cold.”
  • “If you play a lot, you will get thirsty.”
  • Drink water, if you are thirsty.”
  • “What do you think will happen if we leave ice cream in the sun?”
  • “If plants are not watered they will die?”
  • “If you run, you will sweat.”

What sinks and what floats?

Take a transparent bucket, fill it with water. Now gather few things which surround the surrounds your children’s world. For example: a piece of paper, a piece of stone, a piece of wood or a cheap electronic device like a digital toy watch. Now ask your children to drop the items one by one and see if they will float or sink to the bottom. Teach them what water does to the each item like paper, stone and digital watch.

Mixing colours.

Mixing colours is a great way to teach color identification and cause and effect at the same time. Teach children to create their own “color” by mixing two or more colours together and then name it. 

Playing Blocks.

You can also teach cause and effect to children by playing and exploring with them. Play blocks with your children, children benefit a lot playing with blocks, let them build the towers and don’t intervene when they throw the tower to the ground. They are actually learning about cause and effect. Let them build the tall towers and crazy bad designed buildings. Don’t intervening and allow them to experience when the tall tower wobbles and fall.

Offer a variety of toys to your children. Your child will learn that shaking a toy creates a rattling sound and by pressing certain buttons will make the toy play music or light up. Take your children outdoor to play and experience cause and effect. Physical activities can teach children concepts like a swing go high with a big push or a regular slide is slow than steep slide.

Gardening.

Gardening is one of the best ways to teach your children cause and effect. Keep your children alongside when you are at for gardening. Teach them to keep track of the plants in your yard. Let them observe a plant thriving and growing, tell them that it is because the plant receiving good light and water. If the leaves of a specific plant are drooping, tell them that it may be because the plant is not getting enough sunlight or water.

Share the books with children, which enhance their knowledge of cause and effect. Such as below

As your child grows so does their understanding of cause and effect grows, and you can begin teaching them and pushing them towards the cause and effect of good deeds. For example, “If you feed the poor, you are doing good and you will get more good in return!” Tell them that all the religion in the world only teach to be good and do good to others. At the end of the day, all parents want their children to grow up and become good people and that’s why cause and effect is such an essential life lesson.

“Yes every action has a reaction, Every time you do a good deed, you make the world a better place to live.”