How can I teach my child to be patient while learning independence?

Your child’s fine motor skills are not fully developed by this age. While he is great at throwing balls, other tasks like tying his shoelaces will be extremely frustrating for him. Preschoolers do not have a lot of patience, so while wanting to become independent by doing certain things for themselves, will become really angry very quickly by doing something adults consider easy, such as doing up buttons.

To help your child become more adept at these tasks, and to build his patience, get him some building toys. These encourage children to manipulate small blocks over and over again, as well as fire their imagination. If your child becomes frustrated while playing with the building blocks, encourage persistence in him by telling him that he worked so hard to do it, and to try again.

Divide the blocks into smaller easier to manage parts and get your child to build a tower. If the tower falls down, make a joke of it and encourage him to laugh. You can also make breaking down buildings part of the game.

To strengthen the small muscles in your child’s hands, let him draw, cut, as well as string beads or tubular pasta. Working with thick clay and play doh also works wonders - store them where they are easily accessible to your child, but too high for younger siblings.