Want healthy meals your kids will love?

7 Tips to Raise Confident Kids

11 Comments

7 Tips to Raise Confident Kids. Here are some choices and strategies parents can use. https://www.superhealthykids.com/7-tips-raise-confident-kids/

My 8 year old son and I are the co-founders of The Step Stool Chef where we are dedicated to building kid leaders.  While the focus is on kid cooking, our true goal is to empower kids and create environments where they can build leadership skills and confidence that will last a lifetime.  As the “Sous Chef Mommy”, my personal mission is to inspire other parents to give their kids a safe space to take the lead, take risks and explore new skills.

Whether your child in naturally self-confident or a bit timid, I believe that leadership and confidence is to be nurtured and encouraged.

7 Tips to Raising Confident Kids 

7 Tips to Raise Confident Kids. How do you instill confidence in your kids?

1. Let Them Fail

I know this may seem counter-intuitive especially when many of us feel as though one of our jobs as parents is to protect our kids from hurt and disappointment.    However, studies show there is strong relationship between resilience and self-esteem.  Setbacks and making mistakes are the perfect opportunities to build competence and persistence.  Whether it’s learning how to tie a shoe or how to flip a pancake, every time we jump in to minimize their frustration we are inadvertently building a fear of failure. Letting your kids navigate through their own hardships builds inner strength and self-sufficiency.

2.  Show Them That You Value Their Opinion

I grew up in an environment that believe thast “children should be seen and not heard”. The intent was to moderate children’s behavior especially in public.  However, we must evolve and recognize that children do have a voice. Often they have a great perspective that is worth adhering to.  By having an 8-year old as a business partner, I have learned that the simple act of asking his opinion about certain decisions makes him feel valued and appreciated.  Even the simple act of deciding which ingredients to include or exclude from a recipe can be a big deal in a child’s eyes.

To be honest, I have been surprised at how good his suggestions have been.  I also make sure to point out when I have taken his advice and how his advice has helped.  Try this simple exercise with your child with everyday decisions and watch how they light up.

7 Tips to Raise Confident Kids. How do you instill confidence in your kids?

3.  Encourage Your Child to Work Outside Their Comfort Zone

Just as adults, kids can become creatures of habit.  It’s comfortable to operate in areas with which we are most familiar and have had proven success.  Every now and then, however, we must challenge our kids to try something new to continue to build confidence.  Whether it is playing with a new group of kids, learning how to cook with unfamiliar foods or trying out for the school play, when kids learn to take small risks they learn the importance of courage and grow to accomplish new things.

4.  Create a Family Values Statement

We all have rules and values that guide us and our family, some spoken and others just intuitively understood.  By creating a Family Values Statement, you create an opportunity to share your personal beliefs with your kids and how it should influence your family’s behavior.  Make sure that they understand that your expectations of their behavior applies to the whole family.  Kids will now be confident in knowing how to represent their family in the best light.

5.  Provide Opportunities for Your Child to Contribute to the Family

Kids who make key contributions to their family build a greater sense of belonging and responsibility.  Household chores is the most common way kids can contribute to the welfare of the family.  Other opportunities including allowing your kids to take lead in a family tradition or involving them to cook a family meal.  Choose a responsibility that you truly value and they can see the connection of their involvement and how it has helped the family.

6.  Name and Celebrate Your Child’s Superpowers

Every child has a special talent or gift.  Sometimes it is obvious and many times it is not.  It could be that they have a special gift of making others feel special.  They may be exceptionally talented in a subject in school, make a fantastic quesadilla or have a knack for making others laugh. Nurturing and acknowledging their special gift makes them feel understood and empowers them to continue the behavior.

7 Tips to Raise Confident Kids. How do you instill confidence in your kids?

7)  Let Your Kids Experience Boredom

If we had a dollar for every time we heard our kids say “I’m bored”, we could end world hunger.  As tempting as it may be to help our kids escape the claws boredom, it actually is a great way to teach our kids how to be resourceful.  We live in a world full of scheduled activities and playdates. Here, we lose the art of navigating boredom and have allowed TV and screen time to be a default activity.  No judgement… This is a constant struggle in my home as well.  However, we must figure out how to monitor our kids’ free time while not spoon feeding them the solution that will cure their boredom.  Confident kids enjoy unstructured free play which fosters creativity and self-reliance.

Hey… we’re all in this together.  If you have any tips to raising confident kids, please share them below!

Toria and her 8-year-old son are co-founders of  The Step Stool Chef, dedicated to celebrating and inspiring kid independence in the kitchen.  Love the idea of cooking with your kids? Click here to download their FREE e-book, “Top 10 Tips to Make Cooking with Kids Easier”.

Natalie Monson

I'm a registered dietitian, mom of 4, avid lover of food and strong promoter of healthy habits. Here you will find lots of delicious recipes full of fruits and veggies, tips for getting your kids to eat better and become intuitive eaters and lots of resources for feeding your family.

Learn More about Natalie

Leave a Comment:
Did you make this recipe? Leave a review!

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

11 Comments

Such a good topic! It’s so important for our kids emotional well being. My kids enjoy cooking together, and then sharing with family & friends 😉

Great post! Raising kids by inculcating these values may help them acquire resilience and confidence in facing any adverse situation in their life. They will understand the worth of living upholding values in life.

These are wonderful suggestions! Thank you! The only one I would add is to find opportunities for children to serve others… at home, school, church, in the community, etc. All of us- adults and children- feel a stronger sense of self-worth and confidence when we spend more time thinking about & helping others than we think about ourselves. It teaches our children that they have a valuable place in this world and can have a profound impact.

You made a great point when you explained that it is important to let kids take risks that they can learn how to accomplish new things. I would say that a good way to help them grow when they are young is by enrolling them in a preschool program. That way they can learn how to grow at a very young age.

Thank you for telling me that encouraging my kids to try something new can help them build confidence for themselves. I’m thinking of enrolling my daughter in preschool classes but I’m not sure if she’s confident enough to make friends and look after herself in an unfamiliar environment. It might be better if I can let her spend more time outside the house with her neighborhood friends first and see if it can make her more independent.