In a world where young girls are often bombarded with societal expectations and comparisons on social media, nurturing a positive self-image in our girls is more crucial than ever. As mothers, grandmothers, caregivers, and role models, we are always seeking effective ways to cultivate self-confidence and a healthy mindset in our precious girls. One powerful tool we can all use is positive affirmations.
What Are Positive Affirmations?
Positive affirmations are simple, positive statements that describe a desired situation, habit, or goal. They are usually short, easy to remember, and should be repeated often. The idea is to subtly reprogram the mind to think positively, which can lead to more positive emotions and behaviors.
The Science behind Positive Affirmations
Neuroscientific research has shown that positive self-affirmation can help improve problem-solving under stress, reduce the effects of negative emotions, and they can even boost academic performance.
Positive affirmations can slowly change the pattern of your thoughts, shifting them from negative to positive. When repeated over time, these affirmations help to reinforce the neural pathways in your brain, leading to stronger and more automatic positive thinking patterns.
Our words literally make our brains think differently and this is a powerful habit to teach to our children early.
Creating Positive Affirmations for Girls
Creating positive affirmations for young girls needs to be done with care, to be sure that the statements are age-appropriate and relatable. For instance, our Bella Doll comes with a book of affirmations written by 11-year-old Zoe, to be relatable and empowering for young girls. Here is an examples of an affirmation from Bella's book of affirmations:
We encourage you to explore Bella's book of affirmations with your child. Reading and repeating these affirmations daily will not only be an amazing boost for her, but also is a great way for you both to have a meaningful conversation about the power of positive self-talk.
Incorporating Affirmations into Daily Life
Integrating affirmations into daily life is easier than you may think. Here are a few ways you can do this:
Affirmation Cards: You can create a set of affirmation cards that can be reviewed each morning.
Affirmation Chats: Incorporate affirmations into your daily conversations. You could even use Bella, the doll, as a role model during these conversations.
Affirmation Books: Books, like "Beautiful Curly Me" are filled with affirmations and powerful words that inspire girls to love and celebrate who they are inside and out. Reading uplifting books show our girls the beauty of self-love and acceptance, inspiring them to dream big and boldly.
Fun Activities and Games for Practicing Affirmations with your child
There are also creative ways to make practicing affirmations fun for your child:
Affirmation Treasure Hunt: Hide cards with affirmations around the house and have a treasure hunt. Once a card is found, your child has to say the affirmation out loud.
Affirmation Art Contest: Have an art session where your child draws a picture that represents a chosen affirmation. You will get some fun art out of this one!
Affirmation Role-play: Use Bella the doll and other toys to act out scenarios where they use affirmations to overcome challenges. This is a great way to open up her creativity and also really get to hear how she’s feeling.
Affirmation Alphabet Challenge: Use the letters of the alphabet to create daily affirmations. Have her create one each day that starts with a different letter. This will encourage creative thinking and speech - Tag us on social media @beautifulcurlyme with a video of your little one saying her affirmations and we will be happy to give her a little prize! Bonus points if Bella is in the video too.
The Power of Affirmations
Our words are seeds. Speaking is like planting a seed and we have to plant trees whose fruit we will enjoy eating. Teaching our girls to always say what they want to see is important to reframe their thinking, fill them with hope and create a positive attitude within them. Our young CEO Zoe speaks about the power of affirmations in her TEDx talk as something that has been key to helping her build her confidence as a leader.
Our girls are brilliant and have limitless capabilities. We have to get them to believe it and see it, but first they must learn to say it.
As mothers, grandmothers, and caregivers, we play a significant role in shaping the mindset of our young ones. By instilling the habit of positive affirmations, we are setting the stage for them to grow into confident, self-assured women. We invite you to use Bella, the Beautiful Curly Me book, and these ideas as a starting point for bringing the power of positive affirmations into your girl's life.
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