How to Give Your Child a Sense of Adventure

As parents, our main priority is to ensure that our children are safe and healthy. But we also want to give our children more assets that help them to live life to the fullest when they’re in adulthood. Of all the characteristics, having a sense of adventure is arguably the most underrated, since it can have such a profound impact on the quality of their life when they’re older. You just never know what your son or daughter might end up doing if they live with a sense that anything is possible! 

Some children naturally have a sense of adventure. Others need to have their adventurous spirit nurtured. Below we look at a few effective methods for filling up your child’s adventure cup. 

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Freeform Play

A child won’t learn how to be adventurous if everything is controlled for them. Of course, there’ll be many elements of life where you do need to control what they’re doing. But there will also be plenty of opportunities where you can loosen the leash a little and see what they come up with on their own. For example, during playtime. During those periods, let their imagination take control and let them build their own world. It’ll show them that they’re in control of their reality. 

Time Spent in Nature

There’s only so much adventure you can have in an urban environment. There are simply too many rules to obey and cars to avoid. You can have fun, sure, but that true ‘everything is possible’ approach is more difficult. For that, they’ll need to go into the great outdoors. So take a look at taking the occasional day trip into nature; a Saturday spent hiking will develop their adventurous side and be a memorable day out for the family. You may also consider sending them to childrens camp, which offers another level of adventure; there’s nothing quite like spending a week in nature to bring out a child’s sense of adventure!

Instil Confidence

What’s the common characteristic among people that live with a sense of adventure? We’d have to say confidence. A person will be much more likely to throw themselves into an adventure where the outcome is not guaranteed if they have confidence in their own possibilities. Of course, sometimes you get confidence by just throwing yourself into new scenarios, but parents can also nurture their child’s confidence by doing things like showing encouragement, showing them new skills, and focusing on their strengths. 

Have a Can-Do Attitude

Finally, you can improve the likelihood that your child will have an adventurous spirit by being a good role model. If you have a can-do attitude, then it’s likely that they will, too. There are two types of people in the world — people who say ‘why?’ and people who say ‘why not?’ If you’re currently in the former camp, then look at transitioning to the second. Your child will learn from it — and you might just find that it improves your life too.