Positive Affirmations For Kids - Why & How To Use Them

Words – and the little things we say to ourselves – have power! They are just as powerful for our children, and that is why encouraging your child to use daily positive affirmations can help improve their overall well-being, self-esteem, and creative thinking.

All of us develop internal belief systems about ourselves and the world around us and use these to navigate life and its challenges. So much contributes to how these internal belief systems function – our family and friends, our teachers and role models, what we see and hear on TV and in ads, and the list goes on. But these factors can either nurture a firm, positive belief system, or be damaging to it. As we grow older, it becomes harder to shift negative belief systems, and so many of us get stuck in a rut as a result.

Believing starts with positivity

As parents we try to nurture, encourage and love our children with the hope that they grow up into happy, capable and thriving adults. But it’s also important that our children create positive emotions and beliefs within themselves, that they think of themselves with kindness and use that to see who they are. This is where positive affirmations can play a role.

Positive affirmations are short, positive phrases or statements that you say to yourself to challenge negative feelings or unhelpful feelings – like acts of kindness towards yourself that help reframe a belief system and motivate us. Positive affirmations for kids give them an efficient way of using positive thinking to build self-worth. Think of them as little ‘good news stories that your child tells themselves that help paint a picture of a confident, capable, kind person. A picture that eventually becomes the reality.

They can help to build up your child’s self-esteem and help ensure a positive belief system for life, because simply speaking to themselves with positivity your child is shaping the inner voice that’s going to be speaking to them throughout their lives. And we could all do with an inner voice that’s kind, nurturing and encouraging.

What’s more, positive affirmations can be used to address various topics. In general, “I can” and “I am” affirmations for kids provide motivation and help them face challenges and build up self-confidence. Knowing that it’s okay to make mistakes and that they can trust in themselves helps combat anxiety.

Statements around self-love and friendships help to create an appreciation for themselves and the world and people around them, as well as creating an expectation of the boundaries that have to exist in these relationships. Positive affirmations can also help to create a positive body image, because our children are beautiful just for who they are.

Using daily positive affirmations

The most important part of using positive affirmations is repetition. By saying them to themselves every day, your child is teaching their brain to see them as facts, and this is where their real power lies.



Other than that, you and your child can use positive affirmations in many ways. Print out our positive affirmations for kids printable and think of using these in creative ways:

• Stick positive affirmations around the bathroom mirror or on your child’s cupboard so they can see them and say them every morning as they get ready, which also helps to set them up with an optimistic attitude for the day.
• Spend some time with your child every week to hold their hands and look into their eyes as you say positive affirmations to them.
• Create an affirmation board with your child, adding positive pictures and these affirmation cards to it and putting it up somewhere in their room – somewhere they can see it every day.
• Keep positive affirmation cards in a box and pull out this ‘chest of positivity’ on especially difficult days, so if your child comes home after school and feels put down by life’s challenges, pick out a card or two and say the phrases to each other a few times.
• Pop a positive affirmation into your child’s lunch box now and then, little reminders that you love them and believe in them.

Download a printable "daily positive affirmations for kids" card we've put together for you by clicking below or read more informative parenting articles by Crawford International here.