#9 Change the surroundings
Intermediate, ages 2-18
Children are sometimes “seduced” into misbehaving when they cannot resist the temptation to explore something that looks interesting. An infant may crawl to a pin to pick it up and put it in her mouth. A teenager may remove a hunting rifle from an unlocked cabinet to examine it more closely. Warnings will do little good. Remove taboo objects or rearrange the environment to prevent the problem or misbehavior.

Examples:
A mother removes all of her porcelain figures from the living room display when her 14-month-old begins to walk.
When their infant begins to crawl, parents put safety plugs in all open electric outlets throughout the house.
Father locks his hunting rifles in a secure cabinet.

Next: Tool 10