The Importance of Self-Esteem in Kids

Self-Esteem in Kids

The month of February is most often associated with love. We teach our kiddos the importance of spreading love and kindness to others, but it is just as important to show yourself love and grace as well. Building good self-esteem in kids is vital to their growth.

According to the National Library of Medicine, self-esteem may be established as early as five years old. Having a good self-esteem is crucial for children’s development and how they view themselves, accept defeat, as well as impacts confidence, motivation, and social interactions.

Signs of low self-esteem include avoiding a challenging task without trying, withdrawing socially, declining grades in school, becoming overly concerned or sensitive, making excuses, or having difficulty accepting praise from others.

Ways to improve your child’s self-esteem:

  • Spending time with them. It’s important to take time out of our busy days to spend time with our children and do things they enjoy. Express interest in their interests or do something fun with them to boost their mood.
  • Teach your child to praise themselves. They should feel prideful when accomplishing everyday tasks no matter how big or small. Model this behavior to encourage them to do so.
  • Allow them to make choices. This allows them to feel more important and assume responsibility for things in their life. This may be difficult for some parents to do as allowing your child to have control may seem like a power struggle. Start by giving them two options to choose between.
  • Normalize things not going as planned. We are the models and our kiddos are constantly looking up to us. Allowing them to witness imperfection will provide them with a realistic sense of reality.
  • Love your children unconditionally. You will 100% get angry and frustrated with them at times and may raise your voice at them, but at the end of the day remind them how much you love and care for them.

Contact our office for more help on improving your child’s self-esteem. Check out our other blog about ways to teach your child self-love.

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Practicing Gratitude Matters

In light of the holiday season, teaching our children about gratitude is a great way to share and spread positivity to others. Studies have shown that practicing gratitude is linked to improved sleep, reduced stress and anxiety, increased happiness, and increased emotional resilience.

There are many different ways parents can encourage gratitude in their children:

  • Start simple! Anytime your child does something helpful, point it out.
  • Encourage them to say “thank you” as a verbal expression of gratitude.
  • Be a role model and allow your children to hear you talk about how grateful or appreciative you are for something or someone else. This can include things we often might take for granted such as daily meals, water, and/or electricity.
  • Involve them in acts of kindness by visiting an animal shelter, volunteering at a holiday food drive, or donating a toy to Toys for Tots (or any other charity).
  • Practice writing thank you cards/notes to friends and family members.
  • When your child is upset, challenge them to focus on something positive in the situation.
  • Create a routine. Have a regular conversation at the dinner table or before bed about one thing you both are grateful for that day.

Make the holiday season even more cheerful by remembering to practice gratitude wherever you go and encouraging your little ones to do so too!

With the fall break approaching, be sure to check out our other blogs about the importance of open-ended play and ways to practice fine motor skills!

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National Eat Better, Eat Together Month

Healthy Food

October is National Eat Better, Eat Together Month. Incorporating a family meal time into your family’s schedule is valuable as it offers a time for family members to connect, a time to model a nutritious diet for your children, and a variety of opportunities to encourage children to participate and become independent in the tasks that are required to make a meal.

While this may not be feasible every night, a great starting point is aiming for one night a week or a weekend brunch. You could then build upon that once it becomes a routine.

Ways to include children in creating a family meal time:

  • Retrieve a number of items at the grocery store and have your child choose. For example, they have to recall three items within the produce section to grab.
  • Set the table.
  • Assist in preparation of the meal.
  • Follow a simple recipe;
  • Wash produce;
  • Stir;
  • Pour drinks;
  • Measure and add ingredients;
  • Clear the table; and
  • Wash dishes.

Involving children in a variety of mealtime steps can promote a child’s:

  • Independence;
  • Attention;
  • Executive functioning skills;
  • Fine motor skills;
  • Visual motor skills; and
  • Bilateral coordination skills.

Need more ideas? Contact our office. Our therapists can help identify other ways to get your kids involved in mealtimes.

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Developmental Benefits of Fall Activities

Apple Picking

Fall is such a beautiful season! Enjoy the cool weather, pumpkin spice, and autumn leaves with these fun family activities.

Apple Picking

This great family activity offers numerous developmental benefits for our kiddos.

Here is how:

  • Encourage reaching for high and low branches to work on balance and gross motor skills.
  • Apple orchards contain lots of different textures for sensory exploration, including the smooth texture of apples, the roughness of leaves and branches, and maybe even hay on a hayride!
  • After, help your children count how many they picked or practice visual perceptual skills like sorting the apples by size and color.

Pumpkin Patch

This provides an opportunity to work on decision making by allowing our little ones to pick their own pumpkin.

When back at home, you can paint or decorate your pumpkins to promote creativity and fine motor skills via using stickers, different brushes, or even sponges as stamps. Of course, carving pumpkins is a phenomenal sensory and fine motor activity! Let your children help scoop out the seeds using their hands or a large spoon. Allow them to safely assist with carving by pushing in pumpkin cutter stencils to make a silly or scary face.

Need more fun fall ideas to promote growth in your kiddo? Contact our office.

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Getting Your Kids Excited About Food

Veggies at farm stand

Summer is a great time of the year to enjoy fresh produce. August, in particular, is the peak season for many fruits and vegetables to be harvested. From farmer’s markets to orchards, there’s a variety of ways to include your youngest family members in selecting nutritious fruits and veggies for your household. Activities and outings that involve gathering foods are a wonderful way to facilitate an understanding of food production, the people involved, and where it comes from. It could also be a fun and exciting way to introduce or try different foods. Additionally, these settings encourage social skills via talking with the merchants. Asking questions can lead to new discoveries, curiosity, and provide practice talking with community members.

A visit to a market, farm, or orchard allows kids to touch, smell and get a chance to choose the produce themselves–building a sense of autonomy and pride in what was gathered. This could lead to a higher likelihood of them eating their vegetables since they picked it themselves. If you cannot get out to a market or farm, simply spending a little extra time at the grocery store produce section where kids can be included can be an easy way to build knowledge and interest in novel foods and their preparation, as well as get them excited about food. Healthy eating and good nutrition is vital to fueling our bodies and aiding in development as kids grow.

Questions? Contact our office.

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