Creativity And Patience For Children’s Tantrums

Dealing with difficult behavior requires a lot of creativity, compassion, and most of all, patience . Your ability to stay calm and be creative in the midst of all the chaos will be the key so that you can start to have some skills in the middle of a child tantrum.

Negative reinforcement

Ignoring a tantrum is the most productive in the long run. We know that it may sound a bit harsh and even difficult, but if you participate in your child’s tantrums you are teaching him that in this way he is getting your attention and that you respond to negative behavior.

This is known as negative reinforcement, what is the result? Let your child learn that with bad behavior he gets your attention, and this is what he wants.

Tantrums will be much more frequent if your child knows that with them he can get your attention, change your mind or give in to his needs or whims, even if it is occasional. The best advice is to make sure your child is safe and to continue with his tantrum if it is what he needs. For example, in a store you can find a quiet corner to sit down and between the two of you find calm solutions.

You can choose to think of tantrum situations as an opportunity to deal with the situation creatively and even with some humor. For example, if your child is having a tantrum, you can say something like, ‘I see you’re in a bad mood. Better wait by your side in calm until we talk about what is happening to you and how you feel. ‘

The use of humor

Sometimes it may be appropriate to use humor to lighten a situation of tension or dilute discomfort or anger, it is a way to divert bad feelings towards something else. For example: ‘Those little legs with those kicks that you give will make you have quite strong muscles’… But remember that some children can understand it, while for others it can be offensive, think if your child would do well or not.

Count to 10

Teach your child when he is in the middle of a tantrum how to count to 10 slowly and taking deep breaths will help him calm down and see things from another perspective. For him to learn how to do it the first few times, you need to do it with him. When you feel stressed by your child’s behavior, you can do it so that he sees that it is a good thing.

Understand tantrums

Tantrums are an opportunity each time they occur to create a climate of understanding and love. Adults need to stop viewing tantrums as conflictual and see them as an opportunity to teach emotional education and conflict resolution strategies.

Conflict will be created when the adult also gets angry at a child tantrum. Children are small and do not have enough emotional vocabulary to express their anger. Tantrums are caused by the child’s inability to express and manage their emotions and frustrations – sometimes quite explosive.

Expressing human needs is essential for any of us, at any age. This is what children do when they try to express themselves, only they do it with greater intensity. This indicates how important it is for your child to find the right ways to express his feelings through the use of creative imagination.

How to help your child develop emotional maturity

Children need to be helped to develop emotional maturity in order to enjoy a creative and imaginative childhood. If they don’t get what they want when they want it, you are enabling your child to develop inner ingenuity.

Sometimes we have to find other ways to solve needs and wants, this will help children use their creative problem-solving skills and find new solutions.

Using art to channel emotions

It’s a good idea to use art to help children channel their emotions and learn to calm down after they have processed their feelings. Sometimes using simple materials is much more powerful than using sophisticated materials. You may be surprised how a child can let off steam by drawing or painting. 

For example, you can ask your child if he would like to draw a picture about the best thing that happened to him during the day. After what you have least liked that happened during the day. Then you can talk about what you liked the least and look for solutions so that in other situations you learn to handle the negative emotions that may appear.

Creativity is about individual expression, you don’t have to just work by painting. This can be expressed through jokes, art (painting / drawing, etc.), music, dance, the choice of clothes to wear, even the way we eat food is also an option.