Many children suffer from low self-esteem. This often leads to mental health issues later in life. There are so many easy ways to help build our children’s self-esteem at an early age to help them build that confidence and teach them to truly love themselves.
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Best Self-Esteem Activities to Start in Your Home
A child’s self-esteem is their overall sense of worth and, ultimately, their opinion of themselves. If your child’s self-esteem is low, they won’t feel successful and may not try much at all.
It is crucial to help build your child’s self-esteem at a young age so they can be happy, successful, and kind, now and for their entire lives.
How to Build Confidence in Kids
There are many ways we can build confidence and self-esteem in our children as parents. Be sure to always show your children your entire unconditional love for them. Praise them for their efforts rather than just their successes.
One of the best ways you can help build your child’s self-esteem is through your example. That means accepting all compliments that come your way, even if you don’t always believe them. Do not compare yourself or your children with others.
These may seem simple, but they will have a profound effect on your child’s life. Plus, your self-esteem will grow too. I am a big believer in letting our kids see our failures, see our emotions, and struggle with mental health so they know they are not alone, and there is nothing wrong with struggling with your mental health or asking for help.
Self-Esteem Activities for Kids
Here are some easy self-esteem activities to start with your children today. It is never too early to start!
Positive Affirmations
Positive affirmations are probably one of the easiest activities you can do for you and your children, but will also have the biggest impact. Saying positive mantras throughout the day about yourself helps you to get rid of negative thought patterns and build strong self-worth.
Make your own with your children! This can easily be turned into a fun art activity. Hang them up around their bedroom when you are finished and repeat the first thing in the morning and before they go to bed.
Mindfulness
Teaching your child how to be mindful will help them during stressful times in their lives. Then, instead of simply giving up or thinking because something is hard, they cannot do it; they will be able to work through their stress and continue to be successful.
Enjoy some yoga or a 5-minute guided meditation every morning to help set their mood for the day.
Journaling
Journaling is so beneficial and can be used all throughout your life. Have your child pick out their favorite journal from the store and make it a habit to write down their thoughts before going to bed.
You can create a gratitude journal or a simple journal about their feelings. This will help them unload all their thoughts and struggles in a safe place.
Create Something
Being creative helps boost our self-esteem as we see the end result. Knowing that we successfully created something out of nothing always makes someone proud. So go out and create something with your child!
5 Things I Love About Myself
Going along with positive affirmations, try to instill a habit of talking kindly about yourself.
You can also begin a “5 things I love about myself” habit. Before going to bed, you and your child each say 5 things you love about yourselves. This will help you lead by example.
Failure at Dinner Table
Failure is a part of life, and we need to teach that to our children. Every night when you are eating dinner, go around the table and each name a failure from that day. This will help make failure a normal part of living. Then when failures come, it is not so damaging to your child but rather helps them move forward.
Exercise
A big part of self-esteem for anyone is their perception of their bodies. While it may not seem like it, exercise does much more for a child’s perception of themselves rather than just their weight.
When you exercise, your body releases hormones and neurotransmitters, which help boost your happiness and confidence. It also will naturally release your stress and tension during hard times.
Exercise often with your child. This way, they will feel better about themselves and help them know that they are healthy no matter what their body looks like.
Good self-esteem takes a lot of work. Start wherever you are today and consistently work on building your child’s self-esteem. Make sure to include them in this process, so they will naturally always build and grow their self-esteem throughout their lives.
Use any of these self-esteem activities and watch your child’s happiness and self-worth grow!
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