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Activities Self Esteem Children
By Chief Procrastinator | November 11, 2008
Activities in Building Self-Esteem in Children
One of the main issues that parents must deal with when raising a child, is their self-concept and self-esteem. We need to teach our children to have a strong sense of self worth, both in themselves and in their talents. This can be difficult to do because as parents we need to give them ’space’ to find out certain things on their own and yet be there to guide them along the way too.
Being too lax and giving them too much freedom can lead to rebellion while being too strict can destroy a child’s independent spirit and foster too much dependence.
Self-esteem can be encouraged and developed anytime in a persons life, that is why it’s always good to begin early with your children, so they will learn to trust in their abilities and talents. There are several things that parents can do to help develop a healthy self-esteem in their children.
1. Teach self-affirming statements
Talking to yourself in front of the mirror and telling yourself what a great person you are, can feel a bit childish for a grown-up to do but not for a child. It may seem childish, but it works, and even some adults do it in order to boost their confidence for the upcoming day or event. You don’t even have to stick to the mirror process. They can say self-affirming words without looking in a mirror and it can be just as effective in helping them feel positive about themselves and have greater self-confidence.
Create a mantra that your child can easily remember, one that goes to a familiar tune they already know. When they get up in the morning, you can sing the mantra to your child and have them sing one to you. The mantra should be about each other; such as saying I love you in the morning or telling each other how great the other is.
There is really no exact way to do this. Feel free to come up with even more songs, or poems; as long as they encourage your child in what makes them so special.
2. Playing the Positive Traits Game
The Positive Trait Game, is a great game to play with your child that will boost their self-image, and will also help to increase his or her vocabulary skills. This is a fun way for you and your child to tell each other the things you like about each other, or the positive traits you see in them. What makes this game fun, is that the positive trait must begin with a certain letter of the alphabet.
The positive trait game is a wonderful way to teach your kid to think positive thoughts and to acknowledge the traits and talents that make him or her unique. This is also a great way to make sure that he or she will grow up knowing where his or her strengths lie.
3. Find Activities they Enjoy Doing
Encourage them to try out new things so that they will discover their talents and abilities. One great way to do this, is through summer programs, where they have all kinds of things for kids to do. For Example, maybe they find out they are great in art, drawing, painting but they don’t really enjoy music all that much. So don’t discount music lessons as part of his summer curriculum.
Either way, if they really don’t want to continue, at least they were able to try something new and learn a little about it. By allowing them to explore different things, they will find out what they love to do and what they are really good at; this is a wonderful way to boost their self-confidence early in life. Childhood is a wonderful time in life and by allowing your child to enjoy activates, they will become even more adventurous and open to learning new things.
Topics: Self Esteem |
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