Positive Affirmations for Kids

What’s inside this article: Tons of positive affirmations for kids, the benefits of using them, and ideas for when and how to use them in daily activities, and a printable worksheet to help children choose their own positive affirmations.

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Positive affirmations for kids can be an effective self-regulation strategy to help them persevere through troubling situations.

They also boost self-esteem and help your child develop a positive mental attitude which can ultimately affect their overall perspective on life.

What Are Positive Affirmations?

Positive affirmations are specific phrases that you repeat to yourself to provide yourself with encouragement or motivation.

They’re spoken in the present tense, directed toward yourself, and use positive words. For example: “I can…” or “I am…”

How do they work?

If you, or your child, are using positive affirmations, even if you don’t believe the statement you’re saying is true – it can still help you overcome negative thoughts.

So how do positive affirmations work? More or less, the same way positive reinforcement works.

When you have low expectations for yourself, you tend to sink down and meet those low expectations. However, when you think positively and believe in yourself, you’re more likely to succeed.

Neural Pathways – The Psychology Behind Positive Affirmations

When we do things a specific way, the brain forms pathways.

The more we do something, the more often the brain uses that pathway. And, the more a pathway gets used, the stronger it becomes.

By using positive affirmations, kids think about themselves in a positive way, even though this may feel unnatural to them.

Over time, it becomes easier to think positively because you’re strengthening the brain’s pathways.

Eventually, using positive affirmations will come naturally.

How Should Kids Use Positive Affirmations?

If you’re new to using positive affirmations with your kids, you’ll want to begin by exposing them to these affirmations repetitively. So, eventually, these positive phrases come naturally to your child and they use them without even really thinking about it.

There are many ways you can do this (and printables included at the end of the post):

Print posters and hang them on your walls or fridge
Write a daily positive affirmation on the chalkboard or whiteboard
Coloring pages that include positive affirmations
Repeat the phrases out loud together
Encourage your child to repeat the phrases to themselves in the mirror
Write the positive affirmations on their mirror with a dry erase marker
Write down affirmations on popsicle sticks or cards and keep them in a jar, pull one each day and read it aloud.
Complete activities together that encourage your child to think about positive affirmations for them to use in different situations
Keep a daily positivity journal

Benefits of Using Positive Affirmations for Kids

For so many children (and adults, too!) positive self-talk doesn’t come naturally. Many of us have a lot of negative thoughts about ourselves and our capabilities.

Using positive affirmations trains the brain to think more positively and this comes with many benefits for kids.

Builds a positive self-image
Helps children cope with strong feelings like sadness, fear, or overwhelm
cultivates a growth mindset
Reinforces that mistakes are ok and we learn to overcome challenges
Builds confidence in children
Helps kids cope with stress
Improves overall attitude
Motivates children
Pushes children to take chances even when they’re afraid of failure.

Why is all of this so important?

Some research indicates that the beliefs we have about ourselves carry into adulthood and are very hard to change as we get older.

Negative thought patterns and self-talk in childhood can limit us even as adults.

Does your child use a lot of negative self-talk?

These therapy games for kids include an activity where you must match the positive self-talk to the negative self-talk card and is a great way to help kids practice changing the way they think about situations.