Cats have a natural instinct to scratch, which serves to mark their territory as well as keep their claws sharpened.  It’s important for cats to have a cat scratching post in the home.  This post provides the cat a place to scratch that is intended for the purpose of scratching.  When cats don’t have a designated place to scratch, it’s quite possible their claws will turn to the furniture or the carpet.  It’s important for cats to learn the place to scratch while they’re kittens, because it’s much harder to break them of a scratching habit once they’ve developed into an adult. 

To teach a kitten to scratch their cat scratching post instead of the furniture or the carpet, start with simple practices.  Place the kittens paws on the post and perform a bit of assisted scratching.  If this doesn’t seem to work, try dabbing the scratching post with a bit of catnip.  Keep doing this and eventually you will have the kitten convinced that the cat scratching post is their place to scratch.  If the kitten starts the furniture or carpet, there are sprays that can deter the kittens from scratching there because of an obnoxious smell, but this should be used as a last resort.