‘Don’t bribe children,applaud them for their success’

“Childern up to the age of three years require opportunities to develop hand coordination,do more things by themselves,sing,talk and develop their language,play with other children and even do things in the community,” said Kabir Mustafi,former principal of Bishop Cotton School,Shimla,during a seminar on parenting at The British School on Saturday.

While addressing parents,clinical psychologist Kamini Mustafi said,“Children between three to four years start playing with other children and are more likely to take turns and share,are friendly,begin to understand,like to please,become cooperative,are increasingly self-reliant and may develop fears and physically have greater control over hand and arm muscles. Therefore,it is necessary to develop their blooming language abilities through books,games,songs,science,art activities and even help them to develop more physical coordination.”

She further added that one should never ‘bribe’ children and simply applaud them for their success. “If your child passes with good marks,say well done. But don’t buy her a cycle just because she came first. Give her a cycle on the basis of her needs not because of her performance,” she elaborated.