Most people can close their eyes and think back to a moment where they lacked confidence as a child. Whether it’s the first day at school, the first time being alone or when you’ve been through an embarrassing or traumatic event in your life, children can be vulnerable to losing their confidence, and it is the responsibility of the parents to keep an eye out for any signs of confidence issues and do their utmost to build them back up.
Here are 8 useful ways that parents can boost the confidence of their child, so that they can go out into the world with their heads held high, ready for anything that comes their way.
Give Them Plenty of Praise
Even as adults, we crave the praise of others. There’s no better feeling than being told ‘well done’ or ‘good job,’ and it’s even more essential to a child. Getting plenty of praise could be the launchpad to great things, born out of having increased self-confidence. Give your child plenty of praise when they do something good, get something right and for every achievement, and you’ll see their confidence grow.
Rewards are a great way of giving praise, such as a present or a shopping trip to say well done. Shop here now and see if you can find them something special.
Shower Them With Affection
Praise is great for building confidence, but affection can have major benefits for a child’s self-esteem that they will carry through to adult life, and help them to build lasting relationships where they can show their affection and appreciation in equal measure.
For parents, affection can be shown in several ways – from kisses and cuddles when they are tiny to holding hands as a toddler, to an arm around the shoulder in times of need – and the more loved a child feels, the more confident they will be in themselves.
Help Them Set Goals
Aside from having dreams of being a superhero or astronaut, children also have goals, hopes, and aspirations the same as any adult, and to build a child’s confidence to the point where they can move towards achieving these goals, parents can help their children to see how they can get there, and start to get the ball rolling.
For example, if your child wants to paint, you can buy the basic equipment and get them started, whilst enrolling them in short courses and encouraging them to learn more about the art form. No child should have their dreams stamped out, so encourage them to follow their passions and support them in every way possible.
Make Them Appreciate Their Quirks
The great writer and film director Joss Whedon once said: “Whatever makes you weird, is probably your greatest asset,” and while that is undoubtedly true, all adults know that feeling of being laughed at or made to feel inferior for something that makes them ‘different.’
With this in mind, all parents can build their child’s confidence by appreciating and praising these quirks, whether it’s the clothes they wear, their interests or their sense of humor. Let them wear their quirks like a badge of honor, and find out who they are without the added pressure of other people’s opinions and prejudices.
Open Up To Them About Your Childhood Experience
Many children grow up never truly knowing who their parents were before they were born, but it really doesn’t have to be the case. Parents are educators, and their knowledge comes from having experienced what their children are living through every day – the wonder, the confusion, the annoying – so it makes perfect sense that parents should seek to build their child’s confidence in themselves and the world around them by opening up to them about their own experiences of childhood.
If your child can see that the people they look up to more than anyone in the world have had insecurities, embarrassments, and pain, it will help them to process their own without feeling alienated and alone.
Teach Them to Grow a Thick Skin
Many children are fearless from birth, whereas others are more sensitive and are therefore more vulnerable to criticism. While it’s important that a child is protected from certain things, it is also essential that they learn from an early age that the world is not all a ray of sunshine, and they will need to grow a thick skin.
This doesn’t have to be brutal. Parents can sit their child down and explain why they didn’t win, help them to learn from every experience – negative and positive- and ensure that they remain confident individuals no matter what life throws at them. It will be tough, but your children will thank you for it later in life when they have been forced to overcome adversity.
Encourage Them To Live Their Passions
How many times have you heard somebody say: ‘I wanted to be… but my parents wouldn’t let me’ or some variation of that phrase. It happens a lot, and often because of the parents fear of seeing their child fail at something that they are passionate about and have to start over.
In order to ensure that your child has plenty of confidence and self-belief, encourage them to follow their passions, whilst steering them towards the truth of the situation. For example, if your child wants to be a filmmaker, they should be made aware how difficult the industry can be, and talk through the steps that need to be taken to get to enter that industry – from education to experience and everything in between.
Mix Up the Indoor and Outdoor Activities
One of the biggest issues of modern parenting is finding the line between how much technology they allow their children to have access to. It can be difficult to strike a balance between indoor and outdoor activities, especially when you consider how addictive games, the Internet, and social media can be.
It’s been proven that many mental health issues arise in childhood as a result of spending too much time online – with bullying, the feeling your missing out and paranoia the biggest problems – so parents should take charge of the situation and ensure that their children’s Internet and technology usage is monitored and that their child gets plenty of exposure to the outside world – from hiking, swimming, and so much more. It will go a long way to help your child become a well-rounded, confident individual.
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