Kids and Compliments

kids and compliments

Kids & Compliments

Praise is a powerful tool! Effective praise improves a child’s self-confidence and willingness to try hard things before asking for help or giving up. When we compliment and encourage, we are actually modeling words for a child’s own future positive thinking and self-talk!

 

For a child, the most meaningful compliment is:

  • Immediate, within a few seconds or minutes (depending on age)
  • Specific to what the child did
  • Sincere, given with body language that matches your words
  • Based on effort and process, not just the final result

Examples:

Name and describe the exact behavior you like and want to see again – 

  • I saw you sharing your toy with your sister. She had a happy smile when you did that!
  • Thank you for coming to the table when I asked.
  • I saw you waiting for your turn on the swing even though you really wanted to be first. You waited until someone got off the swing and then got your turn!
  • You put all your books back on the shelf. Thank you for doing what I asked.

Notice effort and persistence –  

  • You spent a lot of time on that! I can see you were working so carefully.
  • You never gave up even though that was very hard. Great job finishing!
  • You are really challenging yourself and trying lots of things without giving up. What else can you try?

Try encouraging by stating facts or excitedly describing what the child did – 

  • Your smile shows me you feel happy and proud! Is that how you feel?
  • Look at you! You figured it out!
  • Look at all the different colors you used in this picture! 
  • That took a long time, but you did it!
  • You worked so hard! Can you show me how you did/tell me about this part?

 

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