8 Fun Confidence Building Activities For Kids
Confidence building activities for kids can be a great way to prepare them for the real world, and give them the tools they need to believe in themselves! Which is why I prioritized instilling confidence in my girls all throughout their childhood.
So today I thought I’d share some confidence building ideas with you, as well as some information on why this is important!
Why is it important for kids to develop confidence?
While it’s true that you can change your mindset at any point in your life… It’s also true that learning helpful habits, positive thought patterns, and skills early on can be immensely helpful as you age! Because while your brain is very receptive to new things when you’re young, and it does get less receptive as you age.
Plus, when kids don’t have a lot of confidence in themselves during childhood, it can lead to the following issues…
- Decreased school performance
- Lessened chances of exploring various interests and hobbies
- And even unstable emotions, especially as your child moves into their teenage years!
How can you help children to be more confident?
Obviously, you want to avoid this lack of confidence in your child. And the good news is, it’s actually quite easy to build confidence in your kids if you start right away!
There are just a few main points you want to make…
- Firstly, you want them to realize that nobody is perfect. So they don’t need to achieve perfection, or anywhere close to it, in order to be successful.
- Secondly, you want them to have a growth mindset and realize that skills are meant to be built. This will help them realize that they don’t need to be good at something right away, and instead, they can keep practicing until they master what they’re working on.
- And lastly, you’ll need to teach them that everyone is unique and special in their own way. So that they can learn to avoid the comparison trap early on.
8 Confidence Building Activities For Kids
Now, with all of that said, let’s jump into some confidence building activities for kids that will allow them to feel secure in themselves and their abilities…
#1 – Repeating Affirmations
One of the best ways to build confidence (regardless of age) is positive affirmations. So try to teach these to your children as soon as you can. A cute method for this that I love… is to write out a bunch of them onto slips of paper, and have your kid draw one at the start of each day!
#2 – Handling Responsibilities
Another way to increase confidence is to show your kids that they can show up for themselves and get things done. Which is why giving them their own age-appropriate chores can be helpful. As this allows them to feel a bit more competent every time they complete a task.
#3 – Choosing A Hobby
But, just as chores can be helpful when it comes to building confidence, hobbies can as well. Since this encourages children to follow their passions, and grow the skills that matter to them. So if your child is expressing interest in starting a hobby, encourage it as much as you can! And if not, try to start brainstorming a list of hobbies that your kid might enjoy.
#4 – Shifting Negative Self Talk
Of course, a big part of increasing confidence is to get rid of anything that’s negatively impacting it… And negative self talk is a major obstacle on the road to confidence and self love. So, particularly if you notice your child being hard on themselves, you’ll need to teach them how to reframe their thoughts! One way to do this is by asking them to list five “mean” things they say to themselves, and then have them go through and turn it into something nicer.
#5 – Compliment Games
In group settings, you could also consider starting a “compliment chain” or something similar. Where each person gives the last person a nice compliment. This is really great if you have multiple kids, but even if it’s just you and your kiddo… it can be a fun exercise to do at dinnertime, before bed, etc.
#6 – Visualization
One of the common threads that connects many of these confidence building activities for kids together… is the importance of mindset! And especially when you’re trying to get your child ready for a specific event in their life… One way to improve their mindset going into it, is to help them visualize the experience going well.
#7 – Journaling
A commonly overlooked way to increase confidence is journaling! Because, at first glance, writing down your feelings doesn’t necessarily sway confidence one way or another. But if you think about it, staying in touch with your own emotions and thought processes from an early age could be immensely helpful when it comes to feeling secure and confident within yourself.
#8 – Learning
I’ve already talked about how completing tasks and picking up hobbies can help a child become more confident, so I want to end by saying that learning is equally as important as both those concepts. As at the end of the day, the more you know… the more situations you’ll feel assured and confident in. So even outside of school, try to make sure your children are learning a lot! Preferably, in a lot of different areas of life as well. Because being well rounded will serve them well in adulthood.
Final Thoughts
It’s pivotal for your child’s development that you teach them how to be confident from an early age. And these activities can be a great place to start. So I hope you enjoyed this post and took something helpful away from it.
And as always, thanks for reading!
