Being an introvert and lacking self confidence can be totally unrelated. You can be the most outgoing person in the room. But when it comes to building self confidence and self belief you might not show this to the outside world.
When it comes to confidence all children are different. Some kids are more introvert than others. Even into adulthood some of us can be more introvert than others. We all have different personalities and it is what makes us individual. Confidence & self esteem are important for children to build on.
Self Esteem
Children are no different and that’s why it is our job to help them with this when they are young. Perhaps that is why bullying occurs. I am no expert, but when it comes to bullying it usually stems from an insecurity that the bully has. Whether it be from how they see themselves or something they are being told from someone else that brings them down.
Positive behaviour in children is vital to how they will develop into an adult and how they treat others. Often times there may be other factors into why children grow up with behavioural issues. They may have medical reasons or have had some sort of trauma in their childhood.
Dealing With Emotions
From an early age, we show emotions. We know when we are feeling sad or happy or even angry. Before we learn to speak we communicate in other ways like crying. However when children become a certain age, they can tell us how they are feeling. They may not know why they are feeling certain emotions. But they can usually express to us how they are feeling. It can often be a confusing time for them when they are angry and can’t explain why.
Something might have set them off or they may be just tired and not be able to express that this is why they are emotional.
Reassurance
It is important for children to be able to show their emotions. It is a big part of building confidence & self esteem. Even if they are having a bad day. Children need reassurance and comfort when they feel sad or angry. They might not be able to tell us why they feel like that but they do need to know that we are there for them and that they are safe.
“I don’t want to be at the mercy of my emotions. I want to use them, to enjoy them and to dominate them.”
Oscar Wilde
Emotions are what make us who we are. They help to make us stronger as we get older. Being able to deal with how we feel makes us able to manage our emotions.
Recognizing Emotions
I know there are days when I just want to be on my own. As do my children. My daughter expresses how she’s feeling more than my son. But we are working on that as he gets into pre-teenhood.
I remember when my son would fall over and hurt himself when he was little and he would not come to me for comfort. He would get very angry and I would have to respect his space and let him come to me when he was ready. As his mother it would ache to see him in pain and I just wanted to make it ‘better’ for him.
Recognizing when you are feeling sad or angry is the first step to being able to deal with it. Whether it be just having some down time or breathing and counting to 10, different techniques work for different children (and adults)
Activities To Help Children Recognize Emotions
There are lots of different activities that you can do with children to help them recognize and deal with their emotions. Whether it be writing prompts or crafts. Or even role play in games. Here are a few suggestions;
- Fill empty balloons with rice and draw different faces on them reflecting emotions. These are a good stress reliever. Same kind of idea as a stress ball. https://crafty-mummy.com/rice_filled_stress_balloons/
- Grab a mirror and have your child pull faces to show what, sad, happy, scared look like. Give them some paper and get them to draw what they see. Let them have fun with it.
- Plastic egg faces. Draw eyes on the top part and mouth on the bottom part. Interchange egg pieces to show kids a visual of different emotions.
- Use our FREE printable play dough blank faces. Have the kids use play dough to create facial features that reflect a sad face or a scared or happy face. You can find our printable’s here; https://crafty-mummy.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Childrens-Faces.pdf
- Print off our emotion wheel. It is great tool even for young children to express what makes them happy etc. https://crafty-mummy.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/EMotion-wheel.pdf
- Do some yoga with the kids. Not only is yoga good for our mental health but it also helps to strengthen muscles and bones. It helps to improve their flexibility which can reduce injury in children.
Self Gratitude
Telling children how special they are every day helps to boost their confidence. Just like us adults, we need to be reminded of how great we are or that we are good at certain things.
If your children are old enough to write down their feelings, a journal can be an excellent tool to use for emotions and self gratitude. You can purchase my book ‘You Are Out Of This World’ via the link below. With writing and drawing prompts, children can record their feelings daily.
There is also a collection of colouring pages which reflect how wonderful they are!
Click on the link below to grab my Self Gratitude Journal. ⬇️⬇️
Purchase here: 🇨🇦 🇬🇧 🇺🇸
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