Your Preschooler is at the age where their skills are developing. While you are still tempted to baby them at that age, they really can handle doing things for themselves. While some Preschoolers are naturally independent, some are just a bit more reluctant to take on the mantle of becoming a more independent kid. At this age, there are some things they can and should do for themselves. These skills vary depending on your Preschooler but helping them master them is a part of helping them growing up.
To help encourage them to dress themselves, you can ask them to pick out their own clothes. You must resist the temptation to help them put them on. Let them do it by themselves. It may take longer than it would for you to do it. This could mean that you may have to allow for extra time in the mornings. But it is important for them to do this themselves so they can feel that sense of accomplishment that will get them motivated to do it again. Helping them with buttons on the back of a shirt or helping them figure out the right way the shirt faces is perfectly fine. But you should encourage them to do their own buttons and zippers because these things require a bit more thought to operate and take practice to master.
Another thing you can do to encourage them in their skills is to allow them to help. While it does take a little longer to do jobs such as cleaning this way, they are still at the age that this type of help is more fun than it is a chore. One of the best ways for them to learn how to do a task themselves is to let them do it themselves. While you do want to substitute any harsh chemicals with safer alternatives such as water and buy more kid-friendly versions of grown-up items, they can still gain skill by practicing what you are doing. This sense of helping is another motivating factor that ultimately helps to foster independence.
You can also help your Preschooler by asking them to create their own schedule that they can follow. This gives them a sense of what needs to be done at what time. The schedule doesn’t have to be detailed, just general enough to take the big things into account. The important thing is to let them help create it.
Independent play is also important. Your Preschooler does need time to learn how to keep themselves entertained. This does not mean putting them in front of a television. Instead, playing with toys or out in the backyard under supervision can help them learn that sometimes parents can’t always entertain them.
Fostering your Preschooler’s independence is a part of teaching them how to eventually take care of themselves. While they aren’t quite ready to do everything just quite yet, you can help build the basic skills that they can build on later.