20 Proven Old School Parenting Tricks

As a parent, you’re always trying to provide what’s best for your children. You want to give them the best upbringing, the happiest childhood, and a solid education. And, most parents feel like they should learn about the latest findings and follow the new parenting trends. However, there are proven parenting techniques and information from the old days that are making a comeback today.

If you want to learn more about the proven old school parenting tricks that you should start using, just keep reading. We've put together a list of 20 brilliant tricks you'll love.

Let’s break it down.

source: Pexels

1. More Digital-Free Playtime 

Growing up without digital devices was such a lovely way to grow up. But kids today start playing with tablets and smartphones before they even learn how to speak properly.

This is all changing because parents understand how digital-free playtime:

• Helps in developing creativity
• Boosts kid’s motor skills
• Saves their vision and posture
• Makes them more active and healthy

This is why more parents are thinking of fun outdoor and indoor activities that don’t involve any type of screen, not even TV.

2. Taking Trips to Nature 

Spending quality time outdoors is an old parenting trick, believe it or not. Most people today don’t have the time or the will to take their kids outside and spend time in the open air. 

But this is a great way to have your kids:

• Learn about nature on the go
• Explore
• Play interactive games outside
• Learn to love the outdoors

These trips will motivate your kids to be more physically active and more innovative.

3. Doing Team Sports as a Family 

Quality family time matters. It’s important that the child bonds with their parents and siblings. 

And, family sports days are the best way to do so. Your kids will be:

• Learning how to act in a team
• Learning how to collaborate
• Getting closer with the rest of the family

This is a great way to bond and develop a strong relationship with everyone in the family.

4. Spending Time With Animals

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Kids should learn about compassion and responsibility from the earliest age. Spending time with animals will:

• Teach them to take care of others
• Teach them to love all animals
• Give them a responsibility

By taking care of the animal and learning how to love it, your kids will learn that they’re not always the center of attention, and they should do nice things to other people or animals. 

5. Going on Learning Trips and Destinations 

Yes, trips are supposed to be fun and entertaining. But that shouldn’t be their sole purpose.

Instead of teaching your kids that trips are just about having fun and eating great food, teach them about the beauty of learning about:

• Other cultures
• Other nations
• Historic sites
• Natural beauties

Kids will learn more and have fun at the same time. It's definitely an old school technique we should all go back to.

6. Growing Your Own Garden

When you’re raising your children, you want them to spend quality time outdoors. And, raising a family garden is a great way to inspire them to do so.

Growing a garden is great on so many levels:

• Kids learn about gardening and growing food
• Kids spend quality time outside
• Kids spend less time staring at a screen
• They get to share this with the rest of the family

It’s a great way to have everyone bond and learn how to appreciate what they have.

7. DIY and Craft Projects

source: Pexels

Another fun and educational way for your kids to spend their leisure time is to do all kinds of DIY and craft projects.

All you need to do is get the materials and give them an idea of what to do. Getting their hands busy this way will boost their:

• Focus
• Creativity
• Coordination
• Precision
• Fine motor skills

Plus, they’ll have fun while creating something of their own.

8. Assigning House Chores Schedule

If you think of your child as someone weak, incompetent, or irresponsible, they’ll grow to be exactly that. The truth is, kids need responsibility and assignments.

This is why you should create a family chores schedule and include your kids in it.

Make sure that they:

• Have chores assigned to them
• Learn how to do all the house chores
• Learn how to be more responsible

You can’t clean after them forever, nor pretend they’re not able to do it themselves.

9. Playing Board Games

source: Pexels

Board games are the next old school parenting trick we strongly recommend. Not only will they eliminate screen time, but will also teach your kids about:

• Strategy
• Fair play
• Individual work

They’ll also learn about sportsmanship and tolerance while playing with their friends or family members.

10. Always Finishing What You Have Started

Teaching your kids to always finish what they started is an extremely important parenting rule. Your kids need to learn that:

• You’re not always going to be there
• They shouldn’t expect someone to jump in as soon as things get tough
• They need to get things done on their own

Always insist that they stay persistent and not give up on things easily. This will be golden quality later in their lives.

11.More Independence And  More Responsibility

Your kids are perfectly capable of taking care of a number of affairs and things. Make sure that they do as many things on their own as possible.

That includes:

• Packing their school bag
• Tiding their room
• Doing their homework
• Keeping track of their school obligations
• Preparing simple meals for breakfast or dinner
• Studying

Teach them how to find resources that can help them with school, such as these fun educational websites for middle school.

The more responsibilities they have, the more independent and strong they’ll be.

12. Listening to Family Stories 

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Another thing your kids need to learn is the importance of their family history and origin. Family members can teach them about:

• The old times
• War stories
• Beginning of a family business
• Hardships
• Happy moments

By listening to these stories, they’ll learn about the values and sacrifices their ancestors had to make. This will make them question their own decisions and behavior.

13. Doing a Lights-Out Evening With Tales and Plays

Kids need to constantly work on developing their imagination and creativity. You need to inspire them to do so and organize fun family events such as lights-out evenings.

Then, you can all join together to:

• Tell stories
• Perform plays
• Put on puppet shows

Get them to be creative and free, and express their ideas without feeling ashamed or scared.

14. Introducing Healthy Sibling Competition

When it comes to parenting, it’s important that you teach your kids to love and respect each other. Siblings are always the biggest support to one another, and you should have them do so from the earliest age.

And, some healthy sibling competition can be healthy and inspiring.

So, give your kids assignments and access how they performed. Have them talk to each other to figure out what’s the best way to do something.

15. Determine TV-Free Time Slots

Most kids who don’t know what to do or are bored instantly turn to the TV. And while it’s OK to watch TV from time to time, it shouldn’t be their primary leisure time activity.

To inspire them to do other things, you should:

• Determine TV-free time slots
• Ask everyone to respect them

During this time, your kids will have to be more creative and come up with better things to do. Over time, they’ll voluntarily choose other activities over watching TV.

16. Start the Day by Making the Bed

Your kids’ rooms are their own responsibility. They need to make sure it’s always clean and neat.

And, making the bed is the number one thing your kids should do once they get up. It will remind them to start being proactive from the moment they get up.

17. Help With Cooking & Baking

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As a parent, you need to take care of the meals your kids eat. But, this doesn’t mean they should just have everything served for them.

This might spoil them.

Instead, have them help with some basic food preparation tasks:

• Set the table
• Prepare the salad
• Stir
• Cut the bread
• Help decorate the dessert

Give them more responsibility every time to teach them how to prepare entire meals on their own.

18. Partaking in Meal Planning, Budgeting, & Grocery Shopping

The next great parenting tip you should introduce in your children's upbringing is partaking in organizational activities.

This will help kids learn how to take better care of money and respect your efforts to provide everything for them.

Include them in activities such as:

• Monthly budgeting
• Grocery shopping
• Meal planning
• Savings planning

This will inspire them to act more responsibly with money and food.

19. Season-Friendly Outdoor Games

Every season comes with an opportunity to do different kinds of fun outdoor activities. Kids should learn to enjoy the benefits of outdoor games, including:

• Swimming
• Skiing
• Ice-skating
• Hiking
• Riding the bicycle
• Diving

Make sure every season is marked with a fun and healthy outdoor activity that everyone can take part in.

20. Role-play and Theatre

Finally, it’s always a great idea to have your kids do role-play and at-home theatre.

These activities will awaken their creative side and give them a fun assignment to work on for days. It’s another brilliant method for separating them from the screen.

Make sure that the whole family appreciates their effort and watches their shows regularly.

Final Thoughts

These old-school parenting tips are perfectly applicable in today’s modern time. They’ll help you teach your kids to be more responsible, creative, active, and independent.

Use the list of tricks we’ve shared above to give your kids a strong foundation and an empowering childhood.

Author’s bio. Daniela McVicker is an editor for Alltopreviews, a website that provides reviews for paper writing services. She has a master's degree in English Literature, and she is truly passionate about learning foreign languages and teaching. Daniela works with the students helping them to reveal the writing talent and find one true calling.