The way we communicate with kids can impact their ability to learn, listen and respond to us. In this series, psychologists, educators, and childcare experts answer our queries on communicating with children across various topics, from death and mortality to sexuality, mental health, finance, and more.
With Christmas approaching, the festive cheer is in full swing. Presents are being bought and little kids are writing their wishlists for Santa Claus. However, this Christmas may be different from the rest if your child is beginning to think Santa doesn’t exist. Usually this happens when they finish preschool around five years of age, and can be a simple yet difficult question for parents to answer.
You might feel it’s time to tell your child the truth, but is it going to hurt? Will they be traumatised or feel betrayed by the answer? One thing’s for sure, you probably feel like you have a difficult conversation ahead of you.
However that doesn’t have to be the case if you manage your little one’s expectations and handle the conversation properly. In order to understand how to do that, we speak to Ms Regina Phang, Deputy General Manager and Occupational Therapist for MindChamps, and Jewel Yi, Senior Occupational Therapist from Little Marvels Therapy.