Author and educator Ariadne Brill once said: “A child with a healthy dose of self-esteem has the best defense against life’s challenges.” Self-esteem describes how we feel about ourselves. And developing a positive sense of self is an essential part of healthy child development.
Author and educator Ariadne Brill once said: “A child with a healthy dose of self-esteem has the best defense against life’s challenges.” Self-esteem describes how we feel about ourselves. And developing a positive sense of self is an essential part of healthy child development.
According to a recent study, children’s self-esteem is established by kindergarten and remains relatively stable into adulthood. More important, self-esteem has a strong impact on their decisions, goals, and success in different areas of their life.
Children with healthy self-esteem:
- Feel valued and important.
- Have positive relationships with others.
- Feel confident in their abilities.
- Make good decisions for themselves.
After-School Explorations by Susanna Palomares and Dianne Schilling includes a variety of activities designed to help children enhance their self-esteem and develop greater awareness of themselves and their peers, among other ready-to-use activities. Try out the activities below to help your students feel good about themselves as they help others do the same.
The Magic Chair
Receiving honest, positive feedback from others is one way students develop a positive self-image. Through this activity, students receive positive feedback from one another when they sit in the “magic” chair.
Objectives:
Students will:
- Give and receive positive feedback.
- Develop enhanced self-images.
Materials:
- Decorative materials and a chair.
What to Do:
- Select a spare chair that can be used as the Magic Chair. Decorate it in a fashion that makes it regal-looking, like a throne. For example, cover it with gold fabric, silver foil, or a fake fur throw.
- Tape a sign reading “Magic Chair” to the back of the chair.
- Tell students that when they sit in the Magic Chair, they will hear lots of wonderful and positive things about themselves.
- Ask the group to sit in a semicircle on the floor in front of the chair. Invite one student to sit in the chair.
- Go around the circle and ask each student to say something nice to the student in the chair - a positive observation, an admired trait, or an attractive feature. Make the first comment yourself to model the process.
- Allow two or three students to sit in the chair each day. To avoid mechanical responses and excessive repetition, don’t feature too many students per day.
- Wrap up the activity with discussion questions: What is magic about the Magic Chair? How do you feel when you sit in the Magic Chair? Why is it important to say positive things to each other?
Photos of Us
In this activity, photos of the students are taken and displayed around the room to enjoy and to stimulate discussion concerning physical characteristics. It encourages students to recognize, accept, respect, and appreciate individual differences while also acknowledging the uniqueness of each individual student.
Objectives:
Students will:
- Name physical characteristics that they have in common.
- Recognize unique physical features in themselves and others.
- Recognize and appreciate characteristics that all humans have in common.
Materials:
- Digital camera
- Construction paper or lightweight poster board
- Colored marking pens
- Spray mount or glue
What to Do:
- Tell students that you are going to take photos of them and that you would like each of them to select a special place - either indoors or outdoors - for the picture to be taken. Encourage them to think carefully before selecting the perfect spot for their picture.
- With a digital camera, take multiple photos of each student and select the best one. Then print out copies of the photos.
- Mount each photo on a small sheet of construction paper or lightweight poster board, and leave space around the pictures for students to decorate their “frames.” Then have them sign their photos along the bottom margin.
- Display the mounted photographs around the room. Look at the pictures with students and discuss any similarities and differences they observe in the pictures. List their observations on the board or chart paper.
- Have students stand in a large circle facing one another while you lead a wrap-up discussion. Ask questions like: Who in the room looks exactly like you? In what ways is every person you see just like you? In what ways are we all different?
- When you take down the photo display, place the photos inside protective sheets in a three-ring binder so that students can continue to enjoy them throughout the school year.
