Becky Goddard-Hill is the author of Create Your Own Kindness a kindness activity books for kids age 6-12 recently published by Harper Collins. Today she is sharing a post on Self-Help Skills for Kids.
Create Your own Kindness contains 50 activities to encourage kids to be kind to themselves, to other people and to the whole world. Each of the activities is underpinned by a little bit of science that explains how and why it works.
It is full to the brim with fun activities all focussed on kindness and will provide hours of entertainment as well as strengthen your child’s emotional wellbeing.
Today Becky shares with us how we can teach our kids some important self-help skills.
Self—help skills for kids
Everyone needs someone to support them from time to time, to encourage them and to tell them they can do it! But what if there is no one currently showing your child that kindness and being their cheerleader?
When any support is missing in their life, they have 2 options they can:
1 Ask someone else for what they need.
2 They can try to help themselves.
Encourage your child to make a list of helpers
Do encourage your child to make a list of the people who can help them when they need support. Encourage them to include all the people they know would be both kind and helpful …grandparents, teachers, coaches, siblings, and friends perhaps but top of the list make sure they write their own name.
They can decorate their list any way they like and then pop it somewhere safe so they can refer to it when they need support.
Speak Up
Help your child to understand that other people are not mind readers and sometimes they will have to ask for the help and support and encouragement they need. Explain to the that it is a good thing to be able to ask for help you need in life and that you do this all the time and give them lots of lovely examples.
And if (after asking) they still can’t find someone to encourage them then they should offer the kindness they need to themselves. They should march up to the mirror take a good look at the lovely person they see in it and offer that person some supportive words and lots of encouragement.
If you make friends with yourself, you will never be alone. – Maxwell Maltz (Surgeon and psychologist)
Teaching kids how to identify their helpers and how to be kind to themselves are lessons for life and it is never too early to teach them.
Create Your Own Kindness is available now from Amazon and all good bookshops
Create Your Own Kindness Blog Book Tour
Take a look at the rest of these awesome blogs all celebrating kindness and the release of Becky’s new book
15/2 Emma and 3 https://www.emmaand3.com/
16/2 Red Ted Art https://www.redtedart.com
17/2 We’re Going On an Adventure https://www.goingonanadventure.co.uk/
18/2 Emotionally Healthy Kids https://www.emotionallyhealthykids.com
19/2 Boo Roo and Tigger Too https://www.boorooandtiggertoo.com/
20/2 Growing Family https://growingfamily.co.uk/
21/2 Thrifty Mum https://thriftymum.com/
23/2 What the Redhead Said https://whattheredheadsaid.com/
24/2 Diary of the Dad https://www.diaryofthedad.co.uk/
25/2 Not Another Mummy Blog alison@notanothermummyblog.com
26/2 Rainy Day Mum https://rainydaymum.co.uk/
Role modelling
Practice this with your child (it will make them giggle) and show them how you would do it. Try and not talk negatively about yourself in front of your child but show them through your actions that self-kindness is so very important. But if that still doesn’t work then please don’t worry. I know someone who is always available to be kind and supportive to you. Go and look in a mirror… there you are! Your very own best friend. draw yourself here there you are! Your very own best friend.
For more kindness activities why not take my 30 day kindness challenge.
