🌟🌱 Helping Kids Understand Their Needs vs. Wants🌟🌱

In this newsletter, you will get....

• Feature Articles

• Parenting Tips

• Activity of the Week

Feature Articles

Amy Morin, LCSW and author of “Talking to Our Kids About Wants vs. Needs” suggests that before we can help our kids understand their needs vs. wants, we need to have a clear definition of our own needs and wants. She also suggests some creative ways to help our kids understand the difference between needs and wants.

In the article “But I WAAAANT It! How to Teach Kids the Difference Between Wants and Needs” author Cheryl Flanders gives five simple ways to help teach the concept of needs verses wants to kids.

Eve Johnson breaks down the emotional needs of kids from ages newborn to 18 years old in “What are the Emotional Needs of A Child”

Parenting Tips

Here are some strategies you can use to help teach your children how to understand the difference between their needs and wants.

1. Define Needs and Wants with Simple Examples

• Needs: Explain that needs are things we must have to live and be healthy.

  • Food that will nourish our bodies

  • Clothes to keep us warm and safe

• Wants: Describe wants as things that we would like to have but do not need to keep us alive.

  • Candy

  • Toys

2. Everyday Teachings

• Incorporate lessons about needs and wants into daily activities. For example, while grocery shopping, point out the difference between essential items (needs) and treats (wants). Discuss why you’re buying certain things and not others.

• Involve your child in simple budgeting activities. Give them a small amount of money and help them plan how to spend it, emphasizing the importance of meeting needs before spending on wants.

3. Activities

• Create a "Needs vs. Wants" chart. Use pictures from magazines or drawings to categorize items. This visual representation can make the concept more tangible for young children.

• Engage in role-playing activities where your child must make decisions about what to buy with a limited amount of money. This can be a fun way to teach the importance of prioritizing needs over wants.

• Use stories or books that illustrate the difference between needs and wants. Characters in these stories often face situations where they must choose between what they need and what they want, making the concept relatable and easy to understand.

4. Set an Example

• Model good decision-making. Let your child see you prioritizing needs over wants in your daily life. Explain your decisions in simple terms they can understand.

• Praise your child when they make good choices about needs and wants. Positive reinforcement can encourage them to continue making wise decisions.

5. Discuss the Consequences

• Talk about the consequences of not meeting needs. For instance, if we don’t buy food, we can’t stay healthy. This helps children understand why needs must come first.

Activity of the Week

Need vs. Wants Poster

Creating a needs vs. wants poster can help kids visually see and understand the differences between needs and wants. Creating this with your kids can give the opportunity to talk with them and gain an understanding why they may think some wants are needs. You could create this as a family or just for the child.

Materials Needed:

• A large poster board

• Sticky notes (different colors for each family member if doing as a family)

• Markers, crayons, colored pencils or pens

Instructions:

1. Draw a large chart with two columns labeled "Needs" and "Wants."

2. Throughout the week, have the children, or family members, write down or draw pictures of emotional needs (hugs, kind words, feeling safe, rules, routines, being heard, etc), items they want or activities they think of on sticky notes and place them in the appropriate column.

3. Review the chart at the end of the week and discuss each item.