If you can help your child develop resilience and emotional strength, it’s one of the biggest successes you can have as a parent. As they develop and go through life, it will be much easier for them to manage their own emotions and remain strong. Here are some tips for how you can go about building these qualities in your children.
Promote a Mindset That Embraces Challenges
One way you can promote resilience is to promote a mindset in your children in which they view hardships and setbacks as positive things that will help their development and growth. Perhaps the best way to do this is to focus on praising your child for putting in effort rather than for their achievements. This will help your child to appreciate the greater significance of trying and persevering over mere outcomes.
Teach Emotional Regulation
It can be very helpful to encourage your child to identify and express their emotions, and creating emotional awareness is the first step in developing emotional resilience. You can also provide your child with a “toolbox” of coping strategies for managing stress and difficult emotions, which might include deep breathing, mindfulness, or talking about their feelings.
Extra-Curricular Activities
Encouraging your child to take part in extra-curricular stuff that they enjoy can be a great way of helping them to pick up hobbies and this can be very good for emotional regulation. Examples might be dance classes, joining an orchestra, or perhaps drama groups. All of these will develop your child’s skillset in a social setting and will build confidence.