Growth Mindset For Kids

A growth mindset is believing in the power of yourself and your brain! It is so important to teach our kids to believe they can grow intellectually and emotionally to thrive! 

We've got five easy tips to implement and assist you in teaching your children to embrace a growth mindset. 

1) Be Optimistic
Do you have a child who only sees the glass half empty? Teaching a child to naturally see things in a more positive way can feel impossible. Start small; If your child comes to you and expresses disdain, find a way to turn it around, and then teach them how you did it. 

Ex. "My little brother broke my toy!" 

You, "I'm so sorry he did that. You know what's amazing, though? You were sweet enough to let him play with your toy. You are so kind! Do you think we can all try and fix it together?" 

This shifts the focus from anger and instead allows them to process the situation at hand in a more positive way. 

2) Be Curious
It can be easy to get frustrated when your child has asked you 15 questions and you've only been in the car for ten minutes, but knowing you have a curious kid means that they are ready to grow. Do your best to encourage curiosity when possible, even if that means Alexa has to answer all those questions! 😉

3) Believe
Teach your children to have enough confidence to believe in themselves. This will take time, and have to happen slowly. Think of small things like jumping off a step safely, or using scissors. Try working your way up encouraging them to make small goals and reaching them like saving money, building something small or even writing a short story. 

4) Focus on "Yet"... 
Tired of hearing your kid say, "That's impossible!" and, "I can't!" ? Teach them, instead to toss the word "yet" after their proclamations. Changing the "I can't!" to "I can't...yet"! will help your children reach further and try harder! 

5) Failing is Fun
Let your kids fall, fail and lose. There is so many lessons to be learned in failures that we must let our children experience these losses. Take time to allow your children to feel emotions when they suffer a loss, and then sit with them and guide them with all the lessons learned from the failure. 

This is a lot of work on the parents, but it pays off and can make significant improvements in a child's emotional maturity with just small changes!