Disciplining Kids When They Cheat

Cheating has different meanings at different ages. For a young child, cheating usually comes from a place of wanting to win and feel important, rather than to undermine someone else or cause harm. There is no conscious effort behind a small child cheating. They do not understand that their cheating is going to harm or take something away from someone else.

As in most situations, if parents model how to play games and follow the rules, their children most likely will emulate this behavior. Try to introduce the idea of sharing and playing together while you are playing with your child. Explain those concepts to her while the cheating is happening. Find out why she wants or feels the need to cheat. After she is able to verbalize her reasoning, look and see if there is another way to address this issue through more conversations and more play practice with games.