After the infant and toddler days of your kids, now it is time to accept that they are now called young children. They are now on the stage of being preschoolers. Living with preschoolers is never dull. They are funny to watch and even funnier to listen to. They have great imaginations and tell wonderful stories. Unfortunately, sometimes it’s hard to tell if their stories are lies and if what they say is wishful thinking or a need to feel good about themselves.

One day you may hear them running around claiming to be able to fly and walk through walls. The next day they’re blaming the cat for taking all the pans out of the cabinet. You may not know whether to laugh at them or scold them for not telling the truth.

Unfortunately, children will lie occasionally. It’s a natural part of their development, but that doesn’t mean it’s cute and can be overlooked. In fact, as a parent, you want to teach them to be honest. You want to know why they choose to lie and how to get them to stop.

Preschoolers can come up with some wild stories and they’re not trying to be deceptive when they tell stories. They merely have great imaginations and can’t easily tell the difference between reality and fantasy. So, when your child tells you a purple race car made the mess in their room, their intent is not to lie; it’s just their overactive imagination getting the best of them.

Children this age lie for a variety of reasons. They were caught drawing on the wall and wish they hadn’t been caught. Instead of getting angry with them, calmly tell them that the rules of the house are to draw on paper, not walls. Then offer to help them clean the mess up but make sure they do the majority of the work.

Tease them if they come up with a wild story. If they tell you a gorilla visited them at school, ask if it was a story or if it is the truth. Most likely they’ll admit they were joking. You can then ask them what would really happen if a gorilla had shown up at school.

If you catch them in an actual lie, explain to them the importance of telling the truth. Don’t come right out and accuse them of being a liar, but encourage them to always be honest. Reassure them you won’t get angry with them if they tell you the truth. Explain that honesty is always the best policy. When they do come to you with the truth, be sure to praise them for their honesty.

Remember, if you expect your preschooler to be honest, you’ll want to model honesty for them. Even though it may be difficult, this means you’ll want to be aware of any “little white lies” you may tell to spare someone’s feelings. If they hear you lie after you’ve told them to never tell a lie, they’ll be confused.

You may think your preschooler is too young to teach them about honesty, but it’s really the best time to start. They may tell stories that are wishful thinking or a need to feel good about something, but they need to know that lying is wrong. The earlier you start, the more time they’ll have to practise honesty.