8 Ways to Help Kids Make New Year's Resolutions

New Year's resolutions aren't just for adults! Here are simple and practical ways to help your growing kids make New Year's resolutions.

New Year's Day is the traditional time to celebrate a new beginning, and kids ages 7-12 are at the ideal stage to learn to make resolutions, experts say. "They're still young enough that their habits are not firm," says Christine Carter, Ph.D., author of Raising Happiness: 10 Simple Steps for More Joyful Kids and Happier Parents, and a teacher for an online class on helping kids develop happiness habits. "They're old enough to think about what a New Year's resolution is and to make their own -- yet parents can still help guide them. They're not going to get the same backlash as from a teenager."

Jennifer Kolari, a parent and child therapist and author of Connected Parenting, says, "They're beginning to be mindful and to understand others' perspectives. They're doing more independently, and they're starting to open up to broader goals of how to become their best selves.

Making resolutions with your children can be fun and exciting, a time for growth and change, and an opportunity for family bonding. Read our eight tips on how to make New Year's resolutions a positive experience for kids and to help them keep in touch with their goals all year long.

Be Resolution Role Models

As parents, it's important to practice what you preach. "Do you believe in, make, and keep resolutions?" asks Robin Goodman, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist and art therapist who has written books on children and stress. "You have to walk the walk and talk the talk to be most effective."

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To finish reading the story and view the full list of tips, visit the Parents.com website: http://bit.ly/1h99yTG.