by Brigid Bishop

Created on: March 11, 2009

Intuition is a gift that nature bestows upon us when we are born into this world. Unfortunately, many parents are unaware of the value developing your child's intuition can have in the life of the child. Parents tend to focus on education, sports, music and other mainstream abilities in their offspring, yet overlook one of the greatest life long talents that they can develop in their young ones.

Developing a strong sense of intuition in your child can lead that child to live a very successful life, guide them in their decision making processes and help them to form a good moral compass to navigate through life.

The development of intuition in your child can begin as soon as your child becomes fluently verbal and develops emotions at a level where they can have "their feelings hurt", usually around the age of two for the average child, but can begin as soon as your child is old enough to answer simple questions.

While reading a story to your child such as a classic like Goldilocks and The Three Bears, you can ask the child questions such as "how do you think the bears felt when their chairs were broken" or what do you think will happen next? The child will be able to use their imagination and their intuition, (the two go hand-in-hand), to answer you. When they are right, praise them! If they are incorrect, treat it as a surprise.

Around the age of two, most children are capable of playing the simple children's card game known as "Memory". There are special decks produced specifically for this game, but you can also use any deck of playing cards.

Lay out all of the cards in the deck face down and take turns with your child in finding matches. Part of the game is remembering where a specific card is once it has been turned over and the mate not found, however, a good part of the game is intuition. The first matches that are made are frequently "luck", but in reality, a child is pure energy and the matches the child makes will be very intuitive in nature.

Sharing any story or children's program with your child is a great way to develop their intuitive ability. Asking a child how they "feel" or how they "felt" at any given part of a story, whether visual or read aloud, will help the child know that they should trust their instincts. A simple question like "Did you feel bad when Goldilocks snuck into the home of the three bears?" shows that the child is intuitively anticipating a negative response to a poor behavior.

As your child gets older, around school age, they will immediately be subject to peer pressure. Children partake in teasing, fighting, and other negative childhood behaviors often because all of the other children are doing so. When your child is observed to partake in a less than perfect behavior, rather than just correcting or disciplining them, ask them how they felt inside while they were engaged in the negative behavior. Teach them to listen to that inner voice and that "gut instinct", that is their intuitive sensibility.

Once your child has had you, as a parent, reinforce and validate that intuitive sensation that they feel when making a decision, they will learn to trust and rely upon it, thus helping them to make better decisions throughout life, and be better able to anticipate the likely outcomes of their actions.

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