Positive thinking for children. What better gift could you give your child?By helping to encourage and develop Positive Thinking for Children, we give them a truly wonderful life skill. We endow them with self belief, optimism, curiosity, enthusiasm, freedom and confidence. These traits help open doors and provide wonderful opportunities. When things don’t go quite to plan, developing positive thinking for children, will equip them with the ability to deal with whatever life throws at them. We tend to think in terms of positive thinking from the perspective of being an adult. We are looking to be more positive in order to improve our lives. It makes sense surely to equip our youngsters with this quality of thought so that it becomes simply a ‘way of being’ for them and is not something to be ‘learned’ later in life. Positive Thinking for Children starts from birth. It is best taught by example! However, bringing up kids isn’t always easy. Believe me, I have three, they are now adults, but they still test and stretch me!! I’m aware that if you’re reading this you are likely to be involved with kids and run off your feet! So, if this applies to you scroll to the ends of each section for the quick tips! THE EARLY YEARS ‘Give me a child until he is seven and I will give you the man.’ 
The first years of a child’s life are very important. A child is born with all of their brain cells in place. Gradually as the baby experiences the world through his or her senses, connections between the neurons in the brain are formed. During the first three years, the child’s brain connections are made very rapidly and the brain is twice as active as an adult’s. PLAY Children learn through ‘doing.’ Play is their way of making sense of the world. The early years are a prime time for visual and auditory stimulation. Children need to handle and taste objects to understand them. As they gain control over the object or toy they acquire confidence, self esteem and understanding of the world in which they live. There is no need for expensive toys, because for the young person all experiences are new and exciting. How you can encourage positive thinking for children through play. 1/ Provide them with a safe stimulating environment. 2/ Allow your child time to explore thoroughly.3/ Turn OFF the TV! According to the Science Daily, (July 15th 2008) A new study found children’s play is disrupted if the TV is left on in the background, even if it is an adult show. Children played for shorter periods of time and their attention and focus was affected. 4/ Have fun with your child. Join in their play. 5/ Provide opportunities for imaginative, creative and physical play. PRAISE AND POSITIVE FEEDBACK> Einstein said that for every negative message received by the brain it takes a dozen positive ones to counteract the effect. Clearly we have a duty to keep our child safe as he grows. ‘No,’ is a word which an infant may constantly hear. As the young child is forming many basic and crucial neuron connections in this period. As parents we need to encourage an attitude of positive thinking for children and keep negativity to a minimum. As a teacher of children of all ages I try to praise, encourage and motivate at all times. By simply ignoring the small mistakes and misdemeanours, behaviour improves with out the need for negativity. The brain cannot distinguish between positive and negative statements so by asking a child ‘not to do something’ immediately focuses his thoughts upon that which you don’t want him to do! The result is that he provides you with…yes you’ve guessed it…. the un- wanted response! What we say affects positive thinking for children. 1/ Talk, talk, talk to your kids. A bedtime story is a great way to foster closeness and security. 2/ Use distraction to direct the child away from unwanted behaviour where possible. 3/ Use encouraging language, praise and cuddles for good stuff and simply ignore unwanted behaviour unless it’s really bad! 4/ Provide positive loving feedback. SOCIAL INTERACTION. Up to the age of two a child is very self centred and absorbed. He or she will laugh and gurgle but will expect immediate attention. At around the age of three the child begins to interact socially. This is a clumsy procedure at first as he or she discovers how to get along with others, by sharing toys and controlling emotions. Around the infant school age, children have developed a degree of empathy and understanding with others and can form friendships. At this stage play often imitates adult behaviour as they play house or dress up. By doing this they are exploring the adult world in a safe and controlled space. As through repetition they master objects and people each small step brings success and confidence. How you can help with social skills. 1/ Allow children the chance to work things out for themselves as much as possible. This fosters self reliance and therefore they aren’t always dependant on you to fix them. 2/ Help develop and nurture kindness and empathy towards others. Talk about their feelings and those of others. Emphasise positive behaviour. 3/ Its OK to make mistakes. Encourage your youngster to simply try again. You need to make mistakes for learning to take place. TEENAGE YEARS. Young people need lots of love and understanding as they journey through the teenage years. For parents this can prove a very testing time as nothing we seem to say or do is right. Positive thinking for children this age is crucial. The teenager has to deal with physical and emotional changes as well as trying to find his identity and independence. He has a need to begin to separate from you and to gain acceptance within his peer group. How to support your teenager. 1/ Endeavour in the face of everything to keep calm. 2/ Set clear and acceptable boundaries but allow some discussion. Be open and flexible. 3/ Keep all lines of communication open. Don’t loose them. Encourage and talk to them even if the response is only a grunt. 4/ Give them responsibility. 5/ Allow them to make mistakes.6/ Gently let them go. Being too protective is not a kindness. They need to learn to live their own life. 7/ Above all support, guide and trust your teenager. They can also bring great joy! The journey through life is a fascinating one. Watching and caring for a child as he or she grows is a tremendously rewarding experience. By helping develop positive thinking for children (and indirectly for yourself) you will equip them with a great outlook for life. What better gift could you give?
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