How to teach a 4 year old not to lie?

Answer 1

never lie to them and you should be fine.

Answer 2

Mountain has it right. A child's cognitive development at 4 years of age is just beginning to sort out fantasy from reality. Kids this age DO NOT lie maliciously; it is a developmental issue.
Save the wonderful suggestions about discipline to use when your child is a little older, or for other behavior infractions.
By the way, when I was 4, I told my babysitter (a grandmother) my dad was a policeman. Nothing could be further from the truth (he was a businessman), but the sitter let it fly by; appropriately so. I also told my kindergarten teacher my mom was going to have a baby; she knew better, but didn't scold, either, or bother to correct me. She told my mom, who handled it by telling me there was no baby on the way.
Looking back, I understand the reason for the lies; I wanted both so much that it became reality in my own mind.
Read some books on human development, please!

Answer 3

I agree with Mountain, I've got a 4 year old who loves to make up stories, and even my 3 year old will tell you wild fish tails, at that age, more often than not it is not a lie, an exxageration of the truth perhaps, but not really a lie. My son believes that whatever he dreams about, really happens to him, and it's not a lie, but it's not really the truth either. Unless your child is running around telling things like you're hurting them at home, or something worse, they will outgrow it and as they get older then you start working on teaching them that it's not nice to lie, people get their feelings hurt, that it is just as bad as "..." insert something they hate. My daughter for instance is very emotional when she is called a name by another child, so I explain to her when she lies that lying hurts people's feelings like it hurts her feelings when someone calls her a name.

Answer 4

It depends upon what they are lying about. If it is an exaggeration or tall tale, you can simply correct their interpretation. If it is an outward lie say...to get them out of trouble, say they hit their friend then said "no I didn`t hit her...so-and so did it" always make the consequences far worse for telling a lie than for telling the truth. For example you could say "it was wrong of you to hit your friend, and for that you will get a time out, but because you lied to me and said someone else did it, you will not be able to go to the park today and will have to stay home without any TV,

Answer 5

Never lie yourself. Not even a little white lie like,"ohhh.....tell her i'm not here"(on the phone). Also, don't set your child up to lie. If you know they did something wrong state it. Don't ask them if they did it, you might not like the answer. Praise you child for telling the truth too. Tell them how good it makes you feel when they can be honest with you. When your child does lie tell them you feel worse when they lie rather then just telling you what they did in the first place. Good luck!

Answer 6

for a child at this age doesn't knows much about the repurcussions and is also not doing for any pleasure. first respect what ur child shares with u.may be he's actually not lying.and if he is it's only b'coz he is not having trust in u and may be thinks he is going 2 b punished for what he's done.so encourage the child to speak the truth only as it is ok if something has actually gone wrong. this way praise him when he discloses his hidden mischeif and tell him that it might have harmed him.so by logical reasoning ur child will understand the fact and also will have faith in u.

Answer 7

we ordered a bundle from the CBC online www.christianbooks.com called. K10C ... kids ten commandments. It has a great board game that my 5 year old loves. It teaches the 10 commandments and applies them to real life scenarios. She drew a card that asked... Which commandment is broken when you ask mommy for something...and when she says NO, you run ask dad?...my daughter said with all sincerity, "Don't stab them in the back!"

Answer 8

Any child when given the opportunity will lie. The way you work around this is to tell children what you saw them doing. For example instead of saying "did you hit her?" you would say. . . "I saw you hit her. We use our gentle hands and our words when playing with others." Then of course you can help them talk though what happened. Don't give them the opportunity to lie because they always will.

Answer 9

show the child what the consequences of lying our. read them a book about it and always be a good example. if you never lie they will likey follow in your footsteps. punishment is not always the way to go. let the child learn form his or her mistakes and they are less likey to repeat them than if they know they can get away with lying as long as they sit in a corner for five mins afterwards.

Answer 10

If you find the answer make sure you tell me!! Kids are going to lie and see how far their boundries are with everyone! Best advice, when you know they are lying...make sure you tell them...you know it is not the truth and punish them for the lie...make them sit in time out... or take away a favorite toy for the day... or take away dessert...etc...

Answer 11

you can just guide him by inculcating moral values in him. and u can also tell him some stories which teaches him the bad effects of lying. and one important thing never say lie in front of them be a role model in front of them