How To Build Self Confidence In A Child

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This post is all about how to build self confidence in a child.

Every parent wants to have self-confident and efficient children. How do you achieve that? 

The steps to achieve this may not be as hard as you think. However, actually letting go might be. 

As a parent, you want to protect your children from everything at all costs. What you don't realize in the moment is that it is actually harming your children more than helping them.

I'm sharing simple but very effective methods on how to build self confidence in a child for you to start implementing today!

HOW TO BUILD SELF CONFIDENCE IN A CHILD

Allow Your Children To Fail

Many people think failure is negative. It's not, failure is beautiful; it means it's an opportunity to grow! 

We want to save our children from hurt and failure, but the truth is that the lessons are found in failure. There is always a lesson if you're willing to seek it. Child Mind Institute even credits that you must allow your children to fail.

It's how you mentor your children through failure that helps them understand the lessons and grow from it. 

Let your child try things for themselves to experience the consequences. Allow them to build their critical thinking skills through trial and error. It's through these mistakes, trials, and failures that they develop their character and self-confidence.

Afterwards, ask them questions such as: what could you do differently next time, how did that feel, do you think there is a better way, was that the safest choice. 

Yes, even with small children, especially with small children, allow them to fail! Allow them to make messes, explore, climb, fall, and fail. This is how to build self-confidence in a child! This is what builds their critical thinking skills at an early age, allowing them to be sufficient adults. 

Support Your Child

This aligns with allowing your child to fail. Support them with the decision they are making. Afterwards, mentor them through the failure of that decision. 

Now I'm not saying allow your child to jump off a 4-foot swing set! Let's be reasonable here lol. In simple cases, when you know your child will not be severely physically hurt, support them in that decision! 

When we interject with the decision they're making and give them our opinion or stop it, we rob them of the lesson. In return, it robs them of their self-confidence and decision-making skills. 

Ask Your Child's Opinion

Children love to be asked what their thoughts are and to be part of the decision-making.

Asking your child's opinion helps them to feel valued, heard, and important. Building their self-confidence even further.

Simple questions such as, would you rather wear this shirt or that shirt, what vegetable should we have with our dinner, what toppings should we put on our pizza, would you like to paint or color, shows that their opinions matter.

Praise Your Child

Don't fake praise or overpraise your child. When they do something, say, "Are you proud of yourself?", "Good, you should be! I am glad you figured that out!" 

We tend to say I'm proud of you too much, which makes the child seek our praise instead of looking eternally on how they feel about the situation. 

What if they tried something and it didn't go as planned? Praise! "How do you feel about that?" "I'm glad you tried something new and figured out what worked and didn't, that's brave!" This reassures your child that it's okay to make mistakes. Remember self confidence is built in failure!