Self-esteem is very important to cultivate in children. Having self-esteem not only helps in sports, but also in school, personal relationships and eventually in the workplace. Just to be clear, being stuck up or high on oneself is entirely different from having a positive self-esteem which just entails believing in oneself and in one’s worth. We should all feel worthy of good things. However, building self-esteem is not as simple as flattery. Self-esteem is something we earn, not something we are given. To this purpose, here is a list of self esteem activities for kids.
You will discover 10 fun-filled and interactive activities that will help boost your child’s self-esteem. From role-playing games to positive affirmation exercises, these activities are designed to empower and inspire your little one while building their self-confidence. From empowering art projects to self-reflection exercises, this article shares a collection of engaging activities that will inspire your child to embrace their unique talents and strengths, leading to increased self-esteem.
Effective Child Self Esteem Activities
First- “What is self-esteem?” Some people equate self-esteem with confidence, but that’s only part of the equation. While good self-esteem in kids comes from being confident in their abilities, there are other factors – such as awareness, respect for others and a drive to succeed. We want our kids to have good self esteem because that means they have a good sense of worth and self-respect.
A good self-esteem will help them be happy in life and succeed in their endeavors. You know that saying, “We only accept the love we think we deserve.” Well, if we don’t hold ourself in high esteem, we won’t push for the healthy relationship, the better job, or whatever it is that makes us happy. At the same time, learning self respect should come with learning to respect others. In this way, you get a person with high self esteem but not one that is arrogant or overbearing. I hope you find the following confidence building activities for kids helpful.
Unlock your child’s true potential with these powerful self-esteem activities. This comprehensive guide offers a variety of innovative and proven techniques that will encourage your child to develop a strong sense of self-worth, resilience, and confidence. Building self-esteem can be a transformative process, and engaging in activities that foster self-worth and confidence is a great way to support this growth. Here are some activities that can help boost self-esteem.
Role Play
Role playing with your child can help provide them with the opportunity to find out they do know what to say and they made good choices or the chance to learn more effective ways of responding. So whether they need practice expressing a concern to their teacher or knowing what to say to peer pressure, if you lend an ear, it can really help kids to talk through their options. Try these helpful tips to help a socially awkward child feel more comfortable and confident in social situations – a step by step approach.
List Good Points
If you find your child talks themselves down, help them learn to talk themselves up. Help them recognize their good qualities and traits. Wendy Lynne, the Director of Mental Toughness Academy, suggests kids can begin to build confidence by focusing on their positive qualities when they feel down on themselves. If they say something like, “I’m not good at anything.” You might respond, “Well that isn’t true. You are good at lots of things. Tell me 3 things right now that you are good at.” Help them come up with things they do well like help their friends, help with chores, being kind to others, etc.”
Also, side note to parents: If your child criticizes him or herself excessively, make sure they aren’t picking up that negative self-talk cue from the way that you treat yourself. Everyone should cut themselves some slack, even you! In this way may you can help raise your child’s self-esteem and your own all at once.
Build A Child’s Self-Esteem By Teaching Them To Help Others
Is there a child in your kid’s class or team who doesn’t perform as well as they do? They have to work harder to learn things or simply don’t have a natural talent at doing those things your child does really well. We need to teach our children that instead of putting them down or going out of their way to avoid them, one of the best things they can do is offer to help them.
If the child is having trouble with a certain skill, have your child offer to help by going over the drills with them so they can get better. By helping their team members, they’ll not only be building their own confidence, but their self esteem will also skyrocket from having improved someone else’s abilities.
Likewise, if your child is struggling with something, encourage them to ask their coach or friends for help. Being able to go to another adult is a very important life skill to acquire.
Encourage Your Child To Get Out Of The Comfort Zone
I once knew a kid who was great at playing the goalie on his soccer team. His teammates loved him, because they knew that they could focus on their own positions and he made them look good. He was full of confidence and self esteem that carried over into every aspect of his life.
One day, the coach decided to change things up during practice and made him switch positions with one of the midfielders. The goalie, in is new position, was showing signs of doubt and felt intimidated because of how much of the field he had to cover in his new position. As the practice game went on, one goal after another was scored, while the all-star goalie stood in the middle of the field, too intimidated by his own mind to move around.
When the coach blew the whistle for a ten minute break, something totally surprising happened – instead of the usual name calling that would come with missed goals and bad plays, the goalie and the center midfielder got together to trade information and pointers on how to play their new positions better.
When practice resumed, fewer goals were scored and the goalie was now zipping around with much more confidence in his new midfield position. It turned out to be a great way for the kids to gain self-esteem doing something out of the ordinary and not being afraid to go to others for help.
Find New Talents
An added bonus of self-esteem activities is finding a new skill, talent, or interest. Trying a completely new sport or activity may challenge your child in a new way or even help them find a talent they didn’t know they had. The growth mindset is a key part of trying new things and overcoming set backs. Going out there and doing something out of their comfort zone, stretches them and helps them believe they can reach higher.
Try Positive Affirmations
Daily statements of a positive statement can be a very powerful exercise for young children and adults alike. Positive affirmations can help your child develop their self-esteem and sense of optimism. Grab your free printable of positive affirmations for kids above or as a pdf. Try saying affirmations as part of your family’s daily routine! They are one of the most underestimated yet powerful self esteem building activities.
Kindness Rocks
Using some creative play on words, you child can add a bit of cheer to someone’s day with these simple fruit painted kindness rocks. This activity mixes several self esteem building opportunities together- they get to either try their hand at an artistic endeavor or they get to show their skill. Either way is a win. Plus, being kinds to others is a quality they can be proud of giving out these kindness rocks is sure make everyone’s day! Visit sustainmycrafthabit.com for the full tutorial.
Learn New Skills
Learning new skills, especially ones that help develop a sense of independence, certainly helps build self esteem. We all like to know that we are capable of caring for ourselves if need be. Teaching kids skills like cooking and doing their own laundry can help them feel more confident and capable. You may want to assign them some simple tasks to help out around the house. Doing a household chore regularly gives them a sense of responsibility and makes feel needed.
Feeling responsible for themselves is another way for your child to develop a healthy level of self-esteem. Here are some tips for teaching kids how to become more organized. Organization can help them feel more prepared and it can even help improve grades on their report card. This can be a powerful tool in creating a positive self image.
Goal Setting
When kids learn to goal plan they also learn the value of hard work. Goal setting is an important skill to teach children early on. Setting and working towards small goals can be a great way to build self esteem at an early age. Make sure they start with small goals so they can learn to be confident in their own abilities. Then help them learn how to set stretch goals and break those down when they are ready to step things up. You can get a free goal setting worksheet for kids at simplycreateinspire.com
Gratitude Journal
Children of all ages can benefit from a gratitude journal as a way to reduce negative thoughts and learn to look at things in a positive light. If they seem to have low self-esteem, easy them into it by having them start journal exercises listing positive traits in others. Then have them advance to themselves and building healthy self-esteem by recognized things they do well. Have them think about what makes them a good friend. You can encourage children’s self-esteem by telling them when they do a good job with something and praising them for their effort. Teach them to be grateful for their positive traits and help them understand we are always growing and changing. Learning to focus our attention on our blessings is great for a child’s sense of self-worth.
Physical Activities
- Exercise: Engage in regular physical activity like walking, running, or yoga to improve your mood and energy levels.
- Team Sports: Join a sports team to build camaraderie and confidence through teamwork.
- Dance: Take a dance class or dance at home to express yourself and boost your mood.
- Skill Development: Learn a new skill or hobby to build confidence in your abilities.
- Nature Walks: Spend time in nature to relax and recharge.
- Set Goals: Set realistic and achievable goals to work towards, and celebrate your progress.
These activities can help you build a positive self-image, enhance your confidence, and foster a healthy sense of self-worth.
Conclusion on Confidence Building Activities For Kids
Help your child overcome self-doubt and thrive with these simple yet powerful exercises. I hope these self esteem activities for kids help your child to approach things with a growth mindset and feel confident even when they face challenges. Despite setbacks and failures, positive thinking can help us be resilient. If kids learn how to give other people respect and help, as well as show a willingness to learn, there will be no obstacle that can stop them for long. A healthy sense of self-esteem will be invaluable to young people in social situations, relationships, and in the work place. Which of these building self esteem activities do you think will be most helpful to your child? Which self esteem activity will you start with?
Related Posts:
What Causes A Low Self Esteem? And Overcoming Low Self Esteem
Robin (Masshole Mommy) says
We actually enrolled our 8 year old in karate last year to help build up his confidence and self esteem. He’s not super athletic, so we thought something like that might be good for him and it really is working to build positive self-esteem.
Sheena Gomez says
Everything that’s been said here is true. Sometimes it takes an athlete to leave his comfort zone just to realize that he can do more than what he usually does which can result to an even better performance. Self esteem is one key to get a young athlete playing the game with total focus and confidence. I also love the fact that respecting and helping others was highlighted, these two when combined can help an athlete play as one with his team. These are great self confidence activities for students.
Will says
Thank you for these tips and child self-esteem activities.
I am always looking for fresh independent ideas on how to help students build their self esteem, and suggesting they get out of their comfort zone, and maybe even that they try teaching someone else some tough concepts, may help them realize they know more than they think, and thus help them raise their test-taking self-esteem.
Thanks again.
Heather Behrends says
What a great list of confidence-building exercises! Yes! All of these elements are huge for building self-esteem, which is something that a couple of my kids struggle with. I have found with my kids that setting goals, working towards those goals…and eventually accomplishing them has made a BIG impact for them. It seems to tell them in a more meaningful way than I ever could that they “have what it takes”.
Mildred says
thank you this is a very helpful article
In your article, you mentioned that self-esteem is earned and not given. Could you elaborate on how parents and caregivers can help children earn self-esteem through these activities?
Scarlet says
In other words, I can not tell a child, “You should have better self-esteem,” and expect my words to give them self-worth. In fact, quite the opposite since that sentence is already telling them they are not what they should be. Kids can earn self-esteem by doing these activities and others where they can learn new things or accomplish goals. As a parent we can not give self-esteem but we certainly can encourage it through our reactions to things our child does. Catching kids doing the right things (earning it) and telling them what a nice job they have done or how thoughtful they are is a great way to build self-esteem in our children.
Ali Ahmed says
This is a very helpful and practical list of self-esteem activities for kids. I think these activities can help kids develop a positive sense of self and feel more confident and capable. I especially liked the idea of creating an achievement wall in the home, as it can be a great way to celebrate their accomplishments and remind them of their strengths. I also liked the idea of playing the “What I Love About You” game, as it can help kids feel loved and appreciated by their family and friends. Thank you for sharing this list!
Eric Vault says
I remember when my son was young. He was always shy and lost self-esteem. We did everything we could to help him overcome this, and I looked for a book on the topic of self-esteem that would help so I could give him some advice. I am thankful that I found this blog that I can use with my grandchildren as well.
Beth Learn says
Excited to try the “compliment jar” idea. It’s such a simple yet effective way to promote positivity and reinforce self-worth. And the art activities you’ve mentioned, like the self-portrait and affirmation posters, sound like fun projects that can boost a child’s confidence while allowing them to express themselves.