Preschool martial arts classes for 3-year-olds and 4-year-olds may seem like a bit of an early start… But they’re the best thing you can do for your young child, especially to regulate their temper tantrums! Check out these incredible ways that our instructors create a tantrum-free household with our preschool classes.
Temper Tantrums in Preschool Kids
When a preschool-aged child throws a tantrum, they’re acting very emotionally – of course they are, they’re a kid!
We can’t fault preschool kids for throwing temper tantrums because it’s just in their nature. Their more logical brain is still developing every single day.
What we CAN do is teach them to regulate their emotions, control themselves and focus on something other than their frustration. And these skills apply to so much more than just tantrums!
What is a Temper Tantrum?
Here’s how it plays out: Your child becomes upset by something. They feel a very strong negative emotion- most often, frustration.
This frustration causes them to physically express their emotions through crying, whining, screaming… It can even manifest itself in aggressive behavior like hitting or throwing.
Every parent knows this and has been through this, so you’re not alone! Many parents enrolled their kids in our preschool classes because they’ve heard about how martial arts can help with these behavioral issues in young children.
Getting Your Child Ready For School
What’s happening during a temper tantrum is your child is acting based solely on their emotions. Your child is fueled by thoughts of how unfair something is, and their frustration just keeps building.
We want to teach them how to focus, listen thoughtfully, and then redirect their focus to something different that is far away from the source of their tantrum. These are incredible skills, that your child is learning before they even get to school, that will set them up for LIFE success!
How Preschool Martial Arts Classes Can Help
This is why martial arts is so awesome, especially for young kids in preschool. Year after year, we see a MASSIVE difference in kids who start at ages 3 and 4 and kids who start at ages 6 and 7.
Kids who start martial arts classes at the preschool level get to learn these emotional and behavioral skills much quicker than their older counterparts. They then learn more in their upper level classes because they’ve already gotten their emotions regulated.
Their behavior is under control, so the material sticks better because they’re focusing better. Then, when they enter school, they have an incredible advantage because, well… just read that previous paragraph! It all applies to school as well. Martial arts can help with so much more than just temper tantrums. It’s a tool we use to help our students to become the absolute best versions of themselves, and it shows.
Focusing and Refocusing in Class
Okay, so- here’s how preschool martial arts classes help with temper tantrums: First step is listening. We make listening FUN in our kids martial arts classes. How? Our incredible instructors are essentially ninjas of life lessons, and they sneak listening skills, discipline, and focus into every lesson through fun and games.
Martial arts classes at this age are less about the moves, which they’ll develop as they advance through the ranks, but more about building foundational behavioral skills that they can use in life and beyond. This includes self control, which is the second step. Self control here means being able to sit still without fidgeting too much to pay attention. We teach self control the same way- through fun games and activities and positive reinforcement.
Conclusion
That’s a big component of our classes that helps with tantrums- positive reinforcement. Kids in preschool often throw temper tantrums because they don’t think you’re listening to them. They want your attention. When we positively reinforce their good behavior skills, like listening, they’ll be less inclined to resort to negative attention strategies like tantrums. Reinforcing and praising our kids when they listen is really critical. We know that a lot of parents are busy… But we really encourage parents to watch how class works, so that they can continue positive reinforcement techniques at home. Then when you practice it at home you can really watch your child transform!
