The discussion on whether confidence is nature or nurture has been around since a long time. When it comes to parenting, it always opens up many other questions. When a confident child find more opportunities, many parents wonder what can they do to make their child too more confident.
“We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.” – Maya Angelou.
Are today’s kids really keeping more and more to themselves? Are kids today really less confident than they used to be? Is technology keeping kids away from human interactions?
While it is easy to find conflicting arguments on these topics from various sources, there is no controversy in the fact that self-confidence is an important key to success. The more opportunities a child receives, to deal with people and manage situations, the better their self-confidence develops. Many parents wonder how they can set conditions at home so that their children acquire the skills to build their competence and boost their confidence.
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The good news about self-confidence is that it is something that can be nurtured, nourished and boosted with right guidance and preparation. Here we have some tips you can follow on a day-to-day basis to boost your child’s confidence to prepare your child to take up the challenges of life. Select one activity from each of the below areas every day and observe how a confident child emerges and spreads their wings.
1. Ignite Curiosity
Children are born curious. Their curious minds are like sponges, they can absorb a lot of knowledge. They get immense confidence from the various ways they amass their knowledge. However, the aggressive demands of today’s school system put a detrimental effect to their curiosity. A major part of their curiosity diminishes as they progress through school. Only a few manage to keep the streaks of curiosity alive amidst the pressures of the school system. But, you can help them still be in touch with their curious self.
I. Do simple science experiments at home: This is a good way to make kids wonder about things around.
II. Discuss your family history with your child: What is more interesting than getting curious about one’s own self?
III. Ask them ‘What if…’ and ‘Do you know…’ questions.
2. Promote Creativity
According to a survey by IBM of over 1500 CEOs, Creativity is one of the most important skills required to be successful in the 21st century. Contrary to popular belief, creativity can be taught and nurtured. These are some easy to follow activities that you can do at home to engage your child’s creative confidence. When you acknowledge your child’s creativity, give opportunities to express that creativity and show willingness to discuss about it, you will see him/her developing into a confident child.
I. Make your own story: Make a story from a picture, with your child. To make the best out of it, set aside a family time slot for ‘When a picture tells a story’. You can refer to The Kidz Parade magazine (download 2 free issues here) for pictures of this category.
II. Allow your child to read for pleasure: Reading helps your child to visualize a situation. It helps in igniting creative sparks in them. They will feel tempted to discuss about their creativity. More communication could pave the way towards a more confident child.
III. Show enthusiasm to appreciate your child’s ideas: But, keep in mind that creativity is not just ideation. It is also about taking action to implement these ideas. Showing interest in their ideas and providing motivation in trying out some those ideas are the best encouragement you can provide to boost their creative confidence. An increased creative confidence could lead towards a more confident child.
IV. Brainstorm together on topics related to your family: What will you do on the weekend, should you you have a TV-free day, what should you cook for dinner… the topics are unlimited.
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3. Provide Inspiration
People tend to look at inspirations as benchmarks and when you have benchmarks, you try to achieve as great or better than that. There are many ways you can develop the habit in your kids to look out for inspiration.
I. Encourage your child to express their viewpoints: Make opportunities for them to communicate their opinions about their experiences, observations and aspirations.
II. Teach your child to learn from mistakes: We have heard this many times. But, it never loses its magic touch. Discuss a time when you failed, but took up the challenge and succeeded.
III. Bring your child’s attention to the achievements of people they can relate to: Provide your child with opportunities to feel “If they can do it, I can also do it”. Inspiration need not always come from a famous person. Kids get more inspired by the achievements of their peers. Discuss with them how your peers inspire you.
IV. Provide them with opportunities to make changes in their society: You blame our academic system or their age or the human nature, but most children build limits to their ability to make a difference in this world. What if they start a club to stand for a cause they are passionate about? It could be as simple as a nature club they start at your home with their best friend.
The children will eventually grow up, figure out how to live their lives and they will spread their wings. How well they will spread their wings depends mainly on the unconditional love and the opportunities for confidence building they experience now.
Share this article with your friends and colleagues, so that they too are aware of this amidst their busy schedules.
Do you have any insights or tips that you use? Would you like to share that? Please use the comments section below and let us know!
Sindu Sreebhavan is the founder of As Many Minds Minds Pte Ltd and the founding Chief Editor of The Kidz Parade Edutainment magazine, Asia's premium publication for cultivating creativity and creative writing in children. Sindu is also the founder and the Chairperson of International Youth Leadership and Innovation Forum (IYLIF).
Sindu is the author of 'Infinite Possibilities' and the lead co-author of Amazon bestseller 'Breakthrough'.
With a passion to infuse innovation in education and inject growth mindset and innovative mindset in people and organisations, Sindu writes, speaks and consults on innovation and creativity in business and education.
She says innovation does not start with invention, it starts with a mindset. “The best gift you can give a child is the power of Confidence, Creativity and Communication” is her tagline.
She is passionate about educating educators, parents and children about youth development, youth leadership, education innovation and 21st century education. She supports children, parents, schools and several organisations in these areas.
