Resilience is an important quality, but what does it look like for a child? Your child’s resilience will determine many things, from how they react to disappointment to their perseverance when it comes to making friends. Resilience is an essential quality to develop in a child, and the good news is there are plenty of ways to approach this. Check out these key tips on how to support your child in building their resilience.
Give Them Space
It can be tempting to get into a habit of accompanying your child everywhere and making sure they’ve always got you around. But ask yourself, do they really need you to stay in the dance hall while they take their ballet class? Or do you always have to stand pitch-side when they play with their soccer team? As long as it’s safe to do so, try leaving your kid in the care of trusted adults when it feels right to do so. Your kid will start to enjoy having their own space which is separate from the family, and they will build resilience by socializing with peers and adults other than you.
Use Your Community
Your child will pick up a lot of behavior and attitudes from you, even if you don’t realize you’re passing them on. Make sure you promote a positive attitude towards your local community and get yourself and your kid involved in community events. This will help them to develop a sense of self that is connected with the community, and this can be really beneficial as they get older. Your child will also learn skills from adults in your community which you can’t necessarily teach them.
Accept Mistakes
Many children are fearful or distressed by the idea of making mistakes, which demonstrates a lack of resilience. You can help your kid by modeling acceptance of your own mistakes, as well as theirs. Although it can be frustrating if they’ve just dropped your favorite plate or let the bath overflow, try not to react with anger but with compassion. Similarly, don’t berate yourself if you’ve done something wrong, as your child will pick up on this and use this approach with themselves.