Oprah uses them, Michelle Obama uses them, and if you’ve ever looked in the mirror and told yourself ‘I can do this’, then you’ve used them too! Affirmations have profoundly positive effects on confidence and emotional well-being, and are fantastic tools for children to develop a strong sense of self-worth. This article looks at how we use affirmations in our daily routines at Child’s Play Early Learning Centre and how you can implement them with your child at home.
What are positive affirmations?
Affirmations are short, uplifting statements in the present tense that we can repeat to ourselves regularly. They encourage us to believe in ourselves by replacing negative self-talk with empowering inner dialogue.
A simple affirmation like ‘I am great at doing hard things’ can help you feel more capable of tackling challenges. It replaces that ‘I can’t do it’ voice with words that empower you to approach challenges with comfort and self-belief, which is why they’re so effective at creating strong foundations for children’s confidence and self-esteem.
How Affirmations Work
Affirmations work best through repetition, and incorporating them into your daily routine can rewire the way your brain thinks! Regularly practicing affirmations like ‘I am worthy’ or ‘I am capable’ retrains your brain to focus on the positive rather than the negative.
For children, this can be incredibly empowering as it nurtures positive thinking early in life. Here are some ways affirmations can promote a healthy mindset for your child.
Boosting confidence
Children develop their self-concept from a very young age, evaluating themselves in relation to others to determine what they can and can’t do. Affirmations replace self-doubt with a ‘can-do’ attitude, encouraging your child to stop comparing themselves to others and feel better about trying new or difficult things.
Fostering Emotional Resilience
For children, stressors like meeting new people or being away from their parents can feel overwhelming. Affirmations like ‘I am strong’ can help them face these situations with a sense of courage. When things go wrong, they feel confident to get back up and try again.
Encouraging a Growth Mindset
Growth mindset is all about knowing that skills and intelligence improve through hard work. The affirmation ‘I am learning and growing every day’ encourages enthusiasm towards learning, helping children see challenges as opportunities to grow rather than just moments for potential failure.
The Child’s Play Approach
Here are our ten daily affirmations that we’ve incorporated into our daily learning experiences here at Child’s Play.
- I am a good friend.
- I am brave.
- I am strong.
- I am smart.
- I am loved.
- I am learning and growing every day.
- I am kind to others.
- I am creative.
- I am great at doing hard things.
- I am me.
These affirmations, printed on affirmation cards and revisited throughout each day, have had wonderful benefits for our children’s emotional well-being, social skills, and readiness to learn.
The books we read with our younger children also reinforce positive affirmations through messages about traits like kindness and strength.
With our older children, we link our affirmations to specific tasks. Before physical activities, our children remind themselves that they’re strong, while group activities might begin with an affirmation about being kind.
The Benefits of Childhood Affirmations
Our daily affirmations aren’t just for the here and now. They plant seeds for the wonderful, confident people our children will become.
Studies suggest that positive affirmations can strengthen neural pathways so that difficult or threatening situations are reframed as opportunities to grow. They’ve also been shown to reduce stress and even improve physical health through encouraging better choices – including eating fruit and vegetables!
As children learn to perceive themselves as strong, smart, and capable, they take these beliefs with them through school and even into adulthood. Ultimately, the foundation built through affirmations equips children with the mental and emotional tools to thrive in all stages of life.
Affirmations at Home
Families are the first and most important educators of our children, so here’s how you can support your child with positive affirmations at home.
Create Your Own Affirmations
Help your child think of affirmations that resonate personally with them. Ask questions like ‘What makes you feel brave?’ or ‘What helps you feel calm when you’re upset?’ For children who feel nervous in social situations, affirmations like ‘I am great at making friends’ can make these interactions feel easier to manage.
Make Affirmation Cards
This can be a fun, crafty moment for you and your child using colorful paper and pictures, or you can find some printable ones online. Pop them on the walls and even stick one on the mirror so your child can revisit them throughout the day.
Be an Affirmation Role Model
Children are like sponges, always watching and absorbing behaviours from the world they see around them. Use positive self-talk in your own daily life and encourage your child to do the same. When they see you practicing self-acceptance and self-love through affirmations, they’re far more likely to adopt these practices themselves.
Keep It Realistic
Affirmations work best when your child actually believes they can live up to them. A statement like ‘I never make mistakes’ sets children up for failure because they force an impossible expectation. An alternative like ‘I learn from my mistakes’ can boost your child’s confidence when it comes to difficult tasks, treating setbacks as manageable, even beneficial, facts of life.
Encouraging Growth Through Positive Language
At Child’s Play Early Learning, we’ve witnessed firsthand the extraordinary power of daily affirmations. If you’re looking for a childcare centre where your little one can learn to feel confident and thrive, or if you’d like to know more about how we incorporate positive affirmations in our daily learning experiences, visit one of our centres or get in touch with our friendly team members. Our daily affirmations are just one of the many features of our curriculum that are powered by the Child’s Play core philosophy: Every Child Matters.
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