Have you ever thought about the importance of teaching your kids how to be optimistic and have a positive attitude? With the rise of social-emotional learning efforts, this is becoming a more prevalent endeavor for parents and caregivers.
Positive thinking and optimism can serve children well in their early years and as they grow into adults. These attributes are part of developing resilience, which can help them handle day-to-day ups and downs and major moments of crisis in healthy and safe ways.
Lea Waters, an Australian psychologist, researcher, professor, author, and speaker is an expert on positivity. She said this:
Numerous studies show the effects of positive approaches. Character strengths have been linked to lower PTSD levels in children who live in areas affected by war. Meanwhile, chronic illness patients have shown a greater level of pain management and wellbeing with the help of gratitude.
Similar findings exist when it comes to teachers working with trauma-affected students, positive approaches also benefit company leadership and employee morale, and taking a strength-based approach has been shown to lead to positive outcomes at a community and collective level.
The positive psychology approach presents a fruitful opportunity for growth and development, especially when it comes to raising children. And, as a method of reinforcing and building key personality traits, this approach could be particularly important in times of crisis.
Integrating the positive psychology approach into your family can provide fundamental support for the psychological development of your kids.
To get Dr. Waters’ tips, read her article titled “The Positive Psychology Approach to Raising Your Kids – What It Has to Offer and How to Employ It.”
Activity Ideas that Foster Positivity in Kids
- Enjoy media that encourages positive life skills, like Daniel Tiger.
- Help your children start a daily or weekly gratitude journal.
- Embrace moments of silliness, like dancing in the kitchen or making funny faces in the bathroom mirror.
- Spend time in nature.
- Spend time with friends and family who bring an uplifting spirit to your life.
- Use pictures to identify all emotions, both positive and negative. Amazon has a great toy that helps your child identify and make facial expressions to show various feelings.
- Practice breathing exercises, especially in moments of upset and frustration.
- Try yoga! Yoga flows often connect physical breathing with meditation, mindfulness, and gratitude.
- Create and practice positive affirmations on a daily basis.
Parenting Tips for a More Positive Home
- Be an example of the behavior you want to see in your children. Be kind, slow to anger, expressive of gratitude, and open about emotions.
- Find positivity in parenting (even though it is exhausting and overwhelming much of the time). The Gottman Institute has a great article on this subject.
- Point out your children’s strengths, and help them work on their weaknesses with patience.
- Create space for negative feelings. Let your children know that sadness and anger are normal, and that it’s okay to feel them. Then, help them find solutions to their problems or find ways to reframe their thinking in a more positive light.
- Say thank you to service workers, wait staff, friends, and family. Your kids will notice this action and mirror it.
- Share your experiences with your kids, especially times when you overcame obstacles or learned a life lesson from a difficult trial.
Take Moments to Reset
Every member of your family – including yourself – will have down times. There will still be yelling, tantrums, frustration, and disappointment. Instead of labeling these moments as failures, think of them as opportunities for reset.
When you or another family member are not feeling bogged down by sadness, frustration, or hopelessness, acknowledge those emotions and find ways to reset. Have quiet time, vent to a buddy, or enjoy some escapist movies or books. And then, start again. Find reasons to be positive and optimistic about life.
None of us are happy and lighthearted all the time, but practicing positive attitudes and optimistic thinking can help us all find more joy in our lives. That’s what we all want for our beloved family members, right?