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Why Treat?

By Dr. Anthony Volk

Kinder chocolate is a great example of a child-friendly treat.  But why give treats to your children at all? Treats are an important part of child development. They can…

Encourage sharing between children, promoting patience, fairness, and social skills.
Having kids share treats – for example, by having one child split a chocolate in two and letting the other child choose which half he/she gets – can promote fairness and social skills.  Children who are good at sharing have more and better friends, and positive friendships are a powerful influence for healthy development.  Use treats to help your kids share moments of joy with the friends in their lives.

Teach patience and perseverance.
Making a child wait to be rewarded instills patience and perseverance.  These important characteristics help children to develop positive mental, social, and emotional skills that will help them throughout their lives.

Reward positive behaviour.
Treats can be an important way to “reward the good,” and positively shape your kids’ behaviour.

Encourage play. 
Play is a natural part of childhood that is necessary for children’s healthy development.  Play allows children to practice a huge range of skills and roles, and develops children’s physical, mental, social, and emotional abilities.  Use a treat as reward to encourage play – for example, a shy child may be encouraged to participate in sports by getting a treat halfway through the game.

Help build positive parent-child relationships. 
Treats can show children that their parent is concerned about making them happy, and set a positive mood to make a child more receptive to what a parent has to say.