Kids are naturally curious, joyful, and magical little humans with their own funny quarks and uniqueness and as their parents its easy to see their genius. Yet, no matter how much I believe in their abilities and potential, life has a sneaky way of exposing kids to criticism, comparison and the pressure to succeed.
One of our sweet babes is really struggling with this lately — stressing out about everything from what she wears, to test scores, to running days in P.E. and even whether or not a certain person likes them — which has led me to do ALL THE READING on building confidence and spunk in children while teaching them to trust in the one who Created them too. Instead of dumping an overwhelming list of do’s, don’ts and concepts on the subject I thought I’d keep things simple and share the 5 things that have stuck out to me most.
5 WAYS TO RAISE CONFIDENT KIDS
- Model confidence! One of our therapist’s favorite sayings is, “Your home is a school. What are you teaching your kids?” and it always stops me in my tracks! What am I teaching them about self-talk, self-care, trying new things, responding to failure, dealing with setbacks, setting goals, God’s grace, perfectionism, and all that jazz?
- Teaching a growth mindset which states that our intelligence, personality and creativity can be developed and cultivated through effort. (loved this book on the subject and here’s a few great children’s books too 1/2/3/4/5/6)
- Giving kids a safe place to fail, struggle with a task, or be upset about something. Danny Silk does a great job of explaining the concept in THIS BOOK. Here’s a quick peek at a few of the things discussed in the book. Also really good (but not related) is what he says about giving choices in this video.
- Provide age appropriate opportunities for kids to be independent, self-sufficient and try new things! Kitchen activities, chores, physical activities and joining sports teams and classes is a great example.
- Serve others! In my opinion, there is nothing that boosts confidence and self worth like building relationships and realizing that you have the ability to effect someone’s life in a positive way.
Now for a few picks from our basket shooting, roller skating and jump roping adventures from last week when it wouldn’t stop raining! Found shelter and some much needed room to run in an undercover area at the kids’ school.
Oh my, that face.
What else would you add to the confidence building list?
Also, if you have any great parenting books or resource recs, please share in the comments. Definitely need all the help I can get around here!
XO, Rae
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You are amazing.
Love you Boo.
dad
Thank you for this post. I am a parent and a teacher and on a daily basis I see my own children and my students anxiety over today’s society-it hurts me. I always make sure my kids and my students know I love them and the most important thing I will ever teach them is to be a good people – because being a good person will get you so much further in life.
My three littles are all under four, so bear with me: Just In Case You Ever Wonder, You Are Special, and The Tallest of the Smalls, all written by Max Lucado. I think the best of the books don’t compare to just feeling loved and accepted, though.