Use a Timer as a Parenting Tool

Timers Help Children with Personal Care, Chores, Dinner Time & Play

Feb 16, 2008 Barb Hacker

Timers can be useful to help children comply with requests and expectations in a fun way.

A timer can be a particularly useful parenting tool because it allows the parent to make a game out of normally mundane tasks. Here are some ideas to help you parent with a timer.

Use a Timer for Personal Care

Children that have trouble getting dressed in time to catch the school bus may enjoy a game of beat the timer when dressing. Similarly, children who have difficulty brushing their teeth for more than a few seconds may like the challenge of brushing for a full two minutes with the use of a timer.

Complete Chores with a Timer

Play the room cleaning game with a timer. Set the timer for five or ten minutes and challenge a child to clean as much of his room as possible before the timer beeps.

Challenge a school-age child to finish homework before the timer beeps. Review the child’s homework before playing this game. Only use a timer when the homework is simple enough for the child to complete quickly. Be sure to allow adequate time for the child to complete the homework entirely.

Use a timer as a ten minute warning before transitioning to bedtime. Announce that there are ten minutes to bedtime and then set the timer. Once the timer beeps, it’s time for bed.

Extend Dinner Time with a Timer

Avoid rushed family dinners by setting a timer for the minimum amount of time you would like the family to be at the table. Children have a tendency to eat quickly and then leave the dinner table within a few minutes. Setting a timer encourages them to slow down when they eat. Work at keeping the conversation flowing to engage the children in dinner time.

Establish Playtime with a Timer

Small children especially enjoy play time with their parents. However, it can be difficult for some parents to play with toys that appeal to their children. Instead of looking at playtime as a chore and having that attitude come across in play, go into play time with enthusiasm by setting a timer and vowing to play until the timer beeps. Completely focus on play for fifteen minutes and don’t allow other distractions. Often this focused play time will help settle a young child who is clamoring for attention and keep him from seeking it in negative ways.

The key to using a timer as a parenting tool is to not over use it. Use a timer to get through the parenting trouble spots that crop up from time to time. Once you’ve helped your child get through that particular phase, whether it is trouble with tooth brushing or rushed dinner times, retire the timer and trust your child to regulate himself.

The copyright of the article Use a Timer as a Parenting Tool in Parenting Methods is owned by Barb Hacker. Permission to republish Use a Timer as a Parenting Tool in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

A Timer is a Useful Parenting Tool