What is an affirmation? Simply put it is a statement of something that is true. People use affirmations in their life to replace negative and untrue beliefs and feelings that they have about themselves. Two of my favorite sayings about the power of affirmations and our thoughts are: “as the mind perceives the body achieves”- Napolean Hill. One of my other favorites is a Proverb that reads “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” We have started recognizing the power of positive affirmation in adults but little is said about how children can benefit from affirmations. What a better time to start teaching kids the power of positive thinking and that they can control their mind wh.ile they are still young and their brain is still working on programming its way of thinking for the rest of their life.
It seems like negative statements that people say about us stick so much longer and seem more powerful than when someone says something good about us. We need to affirm our kids everyday! Take a moment before they go to bed and tell them “You are loved, you are special, you are helpful, you are caring, you are growing up to be an incredible boy/girl, or whatever other affirmation you can give them that might be especially relevant to what happened that day. Help your child develop the confidence and give enough affirmations that when those mean and negative comments do come they are so filled with positive ones that they don’t stick as much! Help your child learn to love himself/herself.
How to write affirmations:
1. Write in the present tense
I am statements are very powerful. Phrase this statement as if it already exists
2. Positive statements
Someone once told me that the brain does not recognize the word not. She said if you use not in a statement your brain doesn’t hear that and only focuses on what you don’t want. A perfect example of this is when you tell someone “don’t look at this.” The first thing they do is look at it. Or if you tell someone “don’t think about a pink elephant.” They of course picture a pink elephant. The same can be said of affirmations. Focus on what you want not on what you don’t want.
3. Short and simple
They should be easy to remember. This is especially important when writing affirmations for kids. Most of them can just be 3 word sentences. “I am…”
4. Very Specific
Be as specific as you can and make them your child’s own. Also use words that they are familiar with and currently use.
Here are a few fun an practical ways to incorporate affirmations into your child’s day.
Mirror Messages: Every night before bed have the child write one affirmation on the mirror with a dry erase marker. What kid doesn’t love the opportunity to get to write on a mirror?! Make this part of the bedtime ritual; it really would fit in nicely after brushing teeth. If the child is very young and can’t understand the concept of affirmation or can’t write yet have them tell you one good thing about themselves and you write it on the mirror. Have the child draw a small picture illustrating it.
Affirmation Box:
Use index cards and write different affirmations on them then decorate the cards. The child can write these or just help decorate them depending on their age. Next, decorate a small box or use one you already have and put the cards in it. Each day pull one card out and have that be the affirmation for the day. This could be used at dinner time and can serve as a good conversation piece during the meal.
Vision Board:
Vision Boards can be so much fun! Practice cutting, pasting, and coloring while developing a vision board with your child. One side can include things that they currently have and are grateful for or like about themselves and the other side can be things they are working on or dream of having/being etc.
