Self Esteem Building Activities For Kids To Make Them More Confident

How to build self-esteem and self-confidence in your child? If you simply praise your child you will do more harm to them than good. As a parent, it is your responsibility to develop your little one’s confidence by encouraging them in taking up challenges and learning from their mistakes. Remember you should provide guidance, not interference. If your child faces any problem rather than providing them with a solution you should encourage different approaches or ask questions that are thought-provoking. Once your kids believe in their ability to overcome mistakes and accomplish tasks on their own, only then they will be capable of taking up challenges in school as well as in life. Of course, there is no such magic key for unlocking your child’s self-esteem. Below are some confidence-building tips and self-esteem-building activities for kids that will provide you with the right starting point.

“Behind every young child who believes in himself or herself, is a parent who believed first.”

Is Your Child Suffering From Low Confidence and Low Self-Esteem?

If your child shows any of these symptoms then they are likely to be a victim of low confidence and low self-esteem,

• Aggression: If your child shows signs of bullying or aggressive behavior in emotional situations then they lack confidence and self-esteem. They will behave in this manner to cover up their feelings of inadequacy or weakness
• Playing the Fool:  If your child acts in a ludicrous behavior or in the way of clowning then they are a victim of low confidence and low self-esteem. They do so in order to hide their insecurities.
• Giving Up: Children with low confidence and self-esteem doubt their ability and easily get frustrated when they fail in any task even after a single attempt. They give up for keeping away from the shame of failure.
• Being Careless: Children often show impulsive behavior but overdoing this may be a coping method because they may desire to complete the task fast to avoid the pressure.
• Dominating: When there is low confidence and low self-esteem it is often associated with powerlessness. Because of this your child may take charge of the situation generally becoming domineering during the process.
• Denying: If your child suffers from low confidence and low self-esteem then denial will be a common symptom to avoid the suffering and frustration.

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• Simple ways to encourage your kid’s imagination 

Ways in Which You Can Boost up Your Child’s Confidence and Self-Esteem

Take a look at the different self-esteem building activities for kids that you should focus on,

1. Make Your Child Feel Special

If your child tries hard and does a good job then always praise them. Tell them that you are really proud of them the moment you see he/she is putting enough effort into something. Make them feel special by showering them with lots of love and compliments. You need to make your child feel accepted and loved by every member of the family and later on to his friends and other people. Your unconditional love and support will instill in your child a strong foundation for self-esteem and confidence which will help him overcome obstacles in any phase of their life.

2. Be Attentive to their Needs and Problems

Remember when your little one speaks to you listen to them carefully with proper eye contact to make them feel that whatever they are telling is indeed important for you. This may seem insignificant to us as parents, but for kids, it is indeed a matter of confidence and self-esteem.

Children need to be heard

Just like adults, children want and need to be heard too. But in our busy life how often do we parents pay heed to what our children have to say, let alone take them seriously. If we can pass on the thought that we as parents take our kids seriously then a lot of conflicts can be resolved. If we took our children seriously we would respect them, appreciate them, value them and understand them. This instead will make them feel safe and will reassure them that we love and care for them.

Make them feel valued!

Everybody wants to be taken seriously and your kids are no different. It is a fundamental human need. When you neglect or ignore your kid then you tend to make them angry, frustrated, or rebel against authority. In some cases, they may become quiet or withdrawn which may lead to further loss of their own sense of self-worth and self-respect. ( if their own parents don’t respect them how can they respect themselves).

So in order to avoid all these negative qualities, we as parents should genuinely listen to our children when they speak to us or come to us with some problems. Rather than playing the blame game, it is important that we understand their point of view and not mock them for not being able to solve their petty issues. If we learn to respect their problems and take time to help them come with answers then only will they be able to gain confidence in themselves and most importantly in You.

3. Foster Their Independence

Try to assign your child responsibilities that are appropriate for their age or activities that are ideal for their developmental stage. Offer them chances of making options on some activities.

4. Ask Your Child for Their Opinion or Advice

Ask your kid for their opinions or advice on situations that are appropriate to their age to show you value your child and their ideas. This will build confidence in your child via demonstrating that adults too at times need help and it is fine to ask for the same.

5. Motivate them to Experiment with New Things to Build New Skills

This is also another important factor in self-esteem-building activities in kids. Kids that have low confidence levels shy away from tackling new challenges or trying new things. Encourage your kid to branch out, develop new skills and try new activities. But be realistic in your praises. Praise them for their effort and let them know that some things need repeated effort and practice. Tell your kid it’s okay to fail after they have tried something very hard. This will give confidence to your kid to handle anything which comes their way in the long run. 

6. Discover Their Passions and Interests

Not everyone is good at one thing. If your kid is able to find out what he or she is interested in, then nurture their interests and passions. The moment they excel in what they like they will gain confidence both in their abilities and themselves at large. Create for your child the right opportunities to try activities that will interest them as well as be supportive of such endeavors.

7. Overcome Their Fear of Failure

Often the fear of failure may stop your child from giving their utmost and reaching the utmost potential that can diminish their confidence naturally. As a parent, you need to overcome your child’s fear of failure by teaching them that errors and mistakes are a part and parcel of life and people hardly attain success without setbacks and challenges. These can be achieved by incorporating self-esteem-building activities with kids in their daily routine. Teach your kid that all the negative thoughts in your mind cause low self-confidence. Instead of giving way to all the negatives in your life, switch your gear to a positive affirmation and get back on track. Remember, succeeding through adversity is a great confidence and self-esteem booster.

8. Keep Your Kid Around Confident, Positive People

It is never a good idea to mingle with people who put you down and mince your confidence. Getting away from such people and surrounding yourself with good positive people will tremendously help in boosting your self-esteem and confidence levels. Learn to be positive even if you are not feeling like it. The more you keep your kid surrounded with confident and positive people he/she will automatically turn into a positive and confident individual themselves. Apart from this, teach your kid to stop fussing about the problems in his life. Instead, make him/her realize and focus on the solutions which will help him make positive changes in their life.

9. Make a Beautiful Wall of Fame

Try demonstrating your appreciation and pride for your child’s achievements by making a beautiful wall of fame that will showcase their achievements. Things such as art projects, good grades, certificates or trophies, pictures of your child taking part in a favorite activity or sport, and more can be used. It is the wall of fame that will help you in highlighting the efforts and determination of your child. This will enable to give them a confidence boost which will prove beneficial during times of self-doubt.

10. Give Them Responsibilities

One of the pillars of self-esteem-building activities in kids is by teaching them to take up responsibilities.  Tell your child to assist you with chores around the house to make them responsible. It will help them in being independent and doing things by themselves. Such a sense of competence indeed is integral for building confidence and self-esteem in your kid. It will make him/her feel they can contribute something truly worthwhile.

 

There are a couple of things that can damage your kid’s self-esteem and confidence. Do not say anything negative regarding your child, do not make them feel that life will be better in their absence. Also, avoid treating your child like a nuisance, avoid ignoring them or avoid showing any interest in them and also avoid making negative associations with other kids particularly their siblings. Support and encouragement are not merely words that you should tell your kid but what counts are your actions.

This job of self-esteem-building activities for kids is challenging. Yet a child that is confident and happy is definitely worth every effort. In an era where kids are exposed to quickly changing social expectations, targeted advertising, cyber-bullies, and social media influencers that are peddling lifestyle messages it can be tougher than ever in ensuring that your kid grows and develops with a positive observation of them.

Self-Esteem Activities for Little Learners

By putting the energy and time to help your kid nail positive attitudes to self-confidence and self-esteem early in life you can make sure they turn into well-rounded and happy people they were actually meant to be. As a parent, you must give your kid roots and wings in the form of unconditional love and confidence. Young people that have both these characteristics can live bigger lives. So groom your child with love and care.

Children have the nature of enjoying creative games, having fun with friends, talking openly regarding their feelings as well as getting excited regarding new activities. So it is the responsibility of the parent in encouraging their confidence and sparking their interest. A kid is fearless; hence a parent must give her best in awakening the courage that their child already possesses. You can try these self-esteem activities to get started.

1. Packing for Any Trip

There cannot be a better way to instill confidence and self-esteem in a child than by encouraging him/her in practicing independence. Next time you plan a family trip, involve your little one in packing his/her suitcase. After it is packed ensure to check it and also prompt them in thinking about anything that they have missed. Rather than telling them that they forgot the hiking shoes, it is better to say have you included everything that you will require for hiking?

2. Create a Recipe

Allow your kid to see mistakes as an opportunity for learning rather than a failure. Encourage the mistake-making gently, by asking him/her in creating their own recipe. Tell them to prepare the list of ingredients along with the quantity of each. Supervise the process to ensure that nothing dangerous is consumed but without interfering. Despite seeing your little one adding something absolutely unusual in the recipe, allow them to experiment. When he is ready with half of the recipe, ask him what he could have done differently. After this allow him in modifying the recipe and trying again.

3. Take Part in Chores

• While doing chores that seem vital to you, often your child may be interested to take part in it to get that importance and attention. Doing something which appears vital to you will be excellent in creating self-esteem and confidence in your child. For including the little one you can,
• Tell him in setting the table either for lunch or dinner, entrusting them with carrying those things which are not dangerous.
• Allow them to try using the vacuum cleaner until they get bored and try something different.
• Let them assist you while cooking such as putting things in pans and pots.
• Provide them their cloth to help you in cleaning safe surfaces.
• Tell them to carry their clothes and putting them inside the washing machine. When it is ready tell them to press start.
• After a wash let them identify which clothes belong to whom.

4. Card to Myself

For this, you will require a couple of things- crayons, markers, construction paper, and small crafts that your kids like. Remember any self-esteem activities when it comes to kids must be fun and easy and this is one such activity that will improve his sense of self-respect and also boost his self-confidence. With the help of construction paper, let your kid create a card for himself. It will be a great activity to do on special days such as Valentine’s Day or a Birthday. Tell your child to complete some sentences such as “I love the fact that I can…….”. Allow him in completing the sentence. This will help you in illustrating what he loves about himself. Using stickers, small crafts or other innovative designs try encouraging your child in decorating the card.

5. List Wins and Achievements: 

Give the child a small notebook or diary on which the child can start with the list and thereafter keep on adding every day in the subsequent pages.  It need not include significant achievements. We can start with small things  like

• Today I completed homework on time
• I know cool skateboard tricks
• Made a new friend at school
• sang at a school function and everybody clapped loudly!
• I can draw well etc

Listing out what they are good at and what they have achieved will allow positive thinking and help boost the self-esteem of your kid.

6.  Positive experience card game and Complement exchange 

This is an interesting game that kids may play once in a while. In schools and Birthday parties are excellent opportunities for this game.

Write the name of each child on the card and mix them well. Now let everyone pick a card and make sure that it is not his/her name. Now give a pencil to all and let them write one or two things they like about the child whose name is there on the card. Now pass that card to the child whose name is there on the card and let him or her read it loud and all other children clap and applaud at the end.

The same thing can be played between the parent-child duo.

7. List fears and the child introspects into fears

This exercise lep children to be aware of their fears and eventually potentially learn to overcome them.

start with a listing of fear and ‘why’ about it

“I am afraid to ride the bicycle because I fear I might fall down”.

“I am afraid of the cockroach because I am afraid it will bite me”.

“I am afraid to go on the stage because people might laugh at me”.

The next step is to imagine them doing the thing they fear and either they realize that there is no reason to be afraid or they develop a ‘so what’ mentality.

” I won’t fall, so what? I won’t get hurt, I will rise again”

“Cockroaches don’t bite, and even if they do, so what? I am not touching them anyway”

“People won’t laugh at me, and even if they do, So what? I still have had fun!”

8. Practice Positive affirmations

Positive affirmation is the positive statement that we say to ourselves to motivate ourselves or get ourselves going.

Yes! I can do it. (a positive affirmation)

My idea is to intentionally promote self-talk. This develops a positive mindset and builds a Can-do attitude. Keep it optimistic but realistic at the same time. Be watchful and do not push it vigorously as it may sometimes backfire and children may feel worse about themselves. Being a role model works best.

9. Good and bad self-talk exercise

Give the child a Chart paper/ or a page and make two columns

Let him/her write a list of the negative statements she makes about herself on the negative Bad talk column. Then ask her to write the corresponding positive statement in the good talk column.

“Nobody loves Me”       BECOMES ” Everyone Loves me so much”

‘I am not pretty ‘    BECOMES   “I am the prettiest princess”

This exercise might work as such as children may feel more than they think. But it gives you insight into what negative thoughts they have inside them and you may focus on other activities that will make them realize their self-worth and negate this negative self-talk.

10. Write a gratitude journal

Gratitude is an emotion that positively influences all other emotions. But it may not come naturally all the time. We need to teach our children to practice gratitude. Writing a gratitude journal is one such way. By being grateful for what the child has in life, the feeling of deficiency or lack of something begins to fade away. This enhances self-worth and self-esteem.

‘I am grateful to God that I have legs and I can walk’

‘ i am grateful that I have a loving mama’

‘I am grateful to my teachers for teaching me everything I know

Also expressing gratitude by simple manners like ‘Please’ and ‘thank you’ enhances interpersonal relationships again boosting your child’s self-esteem in return

These were just a few self-esteem and confidence-building activities for kids to kick-start with. There are lots more that you can explore. Academics are very important but equally important is self-development as well. After all, being a parent you wish to see your child is growing up with healthy concepts of self-esteem and self-care which can help them blossom later on into considerate and caring individuals who not only care about themselves but also others.