Supporting your child with the tools to build a healthy positive mindset, self love and confidence is an invaluable opportunity for a growing childs’ mental wellbeing. Our self-belief affects everything in our lives. Imagine the impact it would have if children could wire their neural pathways early in life to believe that they are loved, smart, and strong.
Affirmations can help children whether they’re struggling at school, with friendships, with anxiety or simply as a way to create strategies for emotional resilience and self awareness to take through life with them.
The good news is that it’s never too late to start using affirmations with your children and the best news? We have some great resources to help you on this journey.
In this post, we’re going to have a look at 6 reasons why you should be using affirmations for kids.
What are affirmations?
Affirmations are positive statements that tend to begin with ‘I am…’ or ‘I can…’. As adults, we can use affirmations to overcome self-sabotaging beliefs. But, for children, affirmations can be used so that they don’t have to face those negative beliefs in the first place!
When we repeat positive affirmations with our children, we help them to develop a sense of self-love, self-belief, and self-confidence so that they’re able to go through life with tools to help them in daily life as well as when facing more challenging situations.
How to use affirmations for kids
You might like to use affirmations by having your child repeat statements such as ‘I am strong’ or ‘I am confident’ whilst getting ready for school every morning. You could also use kids affirmation cards, encouraging them to read a card every morning or create another daily family ritual that encourages connection time.
At the end of this post, you’ll also find a FREE affirmation bracelet download so that your child can wear positive thoughts and be reminded of their greatness all day!
1. Belief systems are formed at a young age
The core beliefs that influence how we see ourselves and the world around us are formed at an early age. This is what makes it so important for our children to form positive beliefs about themselves and their abilities.
After all, it’s much easier to encourage positive thinking early on than it is to try and change any limiting beliefs that we have about ourselves once we reach adulthood. For children this could impact their friendship circle, their willingness to be involved in activities, their learning capabilities and so much more!
Louise Hay explains in ‘Creating a Positive Approach’ that the beliefs we form during childhood cause us to create experiences that support those beliefs. For example, if a child grows up thinking that he is stupid, he will naturally look for things to support that belief. Instead of focusing on the awesome grade that he got in music, he’ll pay attention to the not-so-great grade that he got in maths - because this supports the belief that he is not clever.
Let’s help them build positive beliefs so that they can go through life looking for all of the things that lift them up and remind them just how wonderful they are!
2. Mental health impacts
The National Survey (2018-2019) estimated that 20% of Australians considered themselves to have a mental health condition.
Limiting or negative beliefs can be lifelong when not challenged and can cause us to think badly about ourselves, our situation, and our environment. When our brain is constantly looking for “proof” that supports our negative beliefs, we begin to see the world in a negative way even when, in reality, it isn’t the case. This is a quick way to start suffering from mental health problems such as depression and anxiety.
3. Dealing with challenging situations
When we raise our children with positive affirmations that become beliefs, we’re equipping them with emotional resilience, one of the very best tools for being able to deal with challenging situations. After all, our positive thoughts will allow us to see more difficult situations for what they are and nothing worse.
4. Having a strong sense of self-confidence and self-love
School-aged children have more confidence to step outside of their comfort zone when using affirmations that lead them to have confidence and belief in themselves (Effie Maclellan 2014). Imagine someone following you around all day and telling you that you’re smart, confident, and able to achieve anything. You would probably feel pretty good about yourself.
Well, affirmations for kids are the same! It’s a way of nurturing our children to automatically consider themselves and their abilities in the best way, no matter what happens. Affirmations, when repeated, lead us into a natural state of believing in ourselves - and what better gift could we offer our children than that?!
5. Brains are wired to think positively
Not only do we wire our brains to think positively when repeating affirmations, but research also suggests that brain activity increases when we are self-affirmed (or when we have a strong sense of self). For children, this entire process becomes all the more straightforward because their brains are like sponges!
Dan Siegel says that “where attention goes, neural wiring flows!”. When children repeat positive affirmations, not only will they feel great in the moment, but their brain will begin to wire itself to think of these positive beliefs as truth which will help to develop emotional resilience.
6. Nurturing wellbeing in childhood
Using affirmations is a simple way to nurture the well-being of our children as they learn and grow. We have the opportunity to teach our children that taking care of their mental wellbeing is as important as anything else in life. And that, in fact, it may be the most important thing of all.
Affirmations are an easy introduction to the world of wellbeing and self-growth, which makes them perfect for children of all ages.
Whether you choose to repeat affirmations together at breakfast, read kids affirmation cards, give them affirmation bracelets to wear or take the time to help them switch their negative beliefs to positive ones, nurturing your child’s wellbeing is one of the most important things that you can do for them.
The takeaway
Affirmations for kids are a simple yet effective way to encourage our children to believe in themselves and grow into adults who are kind, compassionate, and know the importance of prioritising their wellbeing.
Take a look at our FREE affirmation bracelets for a wonderful way to remind your child just how incredible they are. Let’s raise children who believe that they are capable of anything!
