100 Positive Things Every Kid Needs to Hear

There are many benefits associated with positive affirmations: they help increase kids’ creativity, self-worth, self- confidence,  and self-compassion. Positive affirmations can also lead to emotional well-being. However, teaching your kid to adopt positive affirmations is not always an easy process. As one study suggests, positive affirmations will fail if those affirmations are not realistic. In other words, if your son is convinced that he is poor in math, asking him to utter a positive mantra such as “I am great at math” won’t work. When you think about it, this makes perfect sense.

Using positive affirmations with kids can also be tricky because kids respond better to specific and explanatory affirmations. “I am great at math because I practice for 10 minutes every day”. “I am kind because I let my brother play with my toys” rather than “I am kind”. Problem is, making affirmations conditional means that if your daughter ever refuses to share her toys, then that logically makes her “unkind”.

An alternative approach to promote your kid’s self-esteem is to foster a positive affirmation environment in your home. You can do this by focusing on words that build him or her up.

The words you speak to your kids can become self-fulfilling prophecies. Your kids can carry these words with them throughout their lives. Indeed, just as wounds inflicted in childhood can have consequences that last beyond the childhood years, positive words can have a positive impact extending well into adulthood. Here are 100 things every kid needs to hear to develop a positive self-image:

1. I love you
2. I love you just the way you are
3. I’m here
4. I’ll always be here
5. I’m so proud of you
6. I was so proud of you when you (…)
7. You make me laugh
8. It’s okay
9. It’s not a big deal
10. It doesn’t matter
11. What do you need?
12. I’m listening
13. Let’s talk about it
14. Let me think about it
15. I’m sorry
16. I was wrong
17. These things happen
18. I know you didn’t mean to
19. I forgive you
20. Forgive me
21. I believe in you
22. I need your help
23. I need a hug
24. I love your hugs
25. Do you need a hug?
26. Don’t give up
27. I know you’ll make it
28. You’re such a kind sister/brother
29. You are so great with (…)
30. You’ll make a great (…)
31. You’ll be great
32. I know you’re going to be awesome
33. You have what it takes
34. You’re going to nail it
35. I’ll help you
36. What do you want me to help you with?
37. You can try again tomorrow
38. What can I do?
39. Let’s do this together
40. We’re in this together
41. I understand
42. I’ll go with whatever you decide
43. Help me understand
44. You can be anything you want to be
45. Let’s hang out
46. I think you’re so cool
47. I’m glad you’re here
48. You’re fun to be around
49. Can you show me what to do?
50. You tell the most interesting stories
51. There’s only one you in the entire world
52. You mean the world to me
53. Yes!
54. I know you’ll make the right decision
55. It’s your decision
56. We’ll find the solution
57. What do you want to do?
58. What do you think?
59. We’ll try out your suggestion
60. You always have such great ideas
61. You have such great memory
62. I know you did your best
63. You are my sunshine!
64. You are good enough
65. You don’t have to be perfect
66. You don’t have to be like your friends/sisters/classmates
67. Thanks for trying
68. Thanks for being such a great kid
69. You can stop if you want to
70. You can ask me anything
71. I’ll try my best
72. I like seeing you happy
73. You are my greatest priority
74. You were right
75. That’s a great question
76. I don’t know
77. I like hanging out with you
78. You have such an interesting way of (…)
79. Wow! How did you think of that?
80. Come with me.
81. I enjoy your company.
82. You make me smile
83. You’ve got the best smile ever
84. You’re gorgeous
85. Yes, you can!
86. It’s okay to fail
87. It will get better
88. I miss you/I’ll miss you/I missed you
89. It will be okay
90. You are where you belong
91. You look great
92. It’s great how you always defend your opinions
93. I respect you
94. You deserve respect
95. You always finish first!
96. I know you’ll achieve great things!
97. We’re lucky to have you
98. We wouldn’t be the same without you
99. I was thinking about that time you (…)
100. I was telling (…) how funny/interesting/kind/thoughtful you are

References

http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0062593

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24781897

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4026714/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24781897

This post was first published on parents.com