5 Ways to Boost your Child’s Self Esteem

In this post I outline 5 ways to boost your child’s self esteem. These days bullying is at an all time high and many school age children are feeling less happy about themselves. Love of self and happiness begins in the home and here are five ways you can help your child put their best foot forward each day.

1. Love your child unconditionally. Children need to know and understand that their parents love them for who they are. Individuality is extremely important and kids want to feel accepted. Let your child know that you love and accept them.

“Children need to feel our endless, unconditional love in order to grow, learn and trust. They need to love themselves so they can learn to love others.” (CantonRep)

 2. Listen to and pay attention to what your child is saying. Most children love to talk about everything. Stop whatever it is you are doing and listen to what they have to say. Make sure to maintain eye contact and actually be enthused about what your child is talking about. It will make them feel good that you are actually interested.

“Parenting is all about communicating with your child. Positive two-way communication is essential to building your child’s self-esteem. While children thrive with words of encouragement and praise, listening to your child boosts their self-esteem and enables them to feel worthy and loved.” (NAPCAN)

 3. Praise your child for accomplishing a difficult task. Children feel esteem after they accomplish something they have never done before. Let them know that they did a great job and you are proud of them. They will want to do better and go even further in achieving larger tasks in the future.

“We should especially recognize our children’s efforts to push themselves and work hard to achieve a goal.” (Parenting Without Fear)

 4. Allow your child to take smart risks. It’s okay for your child to climb and jump or do something that as a parent you are fearful of. Children don’t need to constantly be coddled and held back from doing something parents are afraid of themselves. Kids who take smart risks have a higher self esteem.

“If children don’t develop a healthy attitude to risk, then the danger is they’ll either end up going out of their way to avoid challenge entirely (and thereby failing ever to discover just what they’re capable of or being drawn indiscriminately to risk (because it’s just so much more exciting than anything they were ever allowed to do at home).” (YourKidsEd)

 5. Encourage your child to do things outside the box. This goes along with risk taking. Encourage your child to do something he has never done before. Explore your child’s interests and hobbies. Thinking outside the box allows for creativity and a sense of accomplishment based on your child’s own thoughts.

“If a child has an open mind and is able to “think outside of the box,” self esteem will come from within when they are faced with different problems and situations in the real world.” (Lee Mainprize)

Did you try any of my 5 Ways to Boost Your Child’s Self Esteem? Let’s connect! Leave a comment or find me on Instagram and Twitter @mommyweek #mommyweek or on Facebook

Ashley ❤