7 ways to motivate children

One of the most important ways to guide your child is through connecting their school and home learning experiences. The exploration of activities can allow for essential skill development as well as enjoyment.

- SHELLEY ANN MORGAN

To become lifelong learners, it’s important that children are motivated. Did you know that there are a range of strategies and activities that you can incorporate throughout your child's school life to help develop interest, build confidence and self-esteem and increase motivation? Ultimately the development of a range of skills and interests through school and home may allow a child to discover heir passion, igniting the spark of lifelong learning.

First, it is important to understand how motivation works. There are two primary types of motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic motivation refers o behaviour that a person engages in because they personally find the task satisfying for example, reading and earning about a topic in a book because you find the topic interesting. In contrast, extrinsic motivation refers to behaviour hat a person engages in for external rewards for example, reading and earning about a topic in a book because you want to receive higher grades. While we use both types of motivation throughout life, research has shown that students who are motivated intrinsically performed higher academically. It found that key intrinsic motivational actors that assisted with learning were students’ desire to be involved, curiosity o find out more about their interests, challenge such as working out complex topics or tasks, and interaction such as creating social connections.

While it’s not always possible to incorporate intrinsic motivators at school and at home and students will use both intrinsic and extrinsic motivators adding intrinsic motivators when possible can enhance learning or engagement in a particular task. To assist in your child’s development and to help value lifelong learning, here are seven ways 0 increase motivation.

Find an interest or hobby