Parents want a lot for their kids–good health, mental sharpness and a bright future. But you as a parent also want your child to be positive and confident. Research proves that positivity in life can have good lifelong benefits, so why not teach your kids to be positive and optimistic. Here’s how:

7 Top Tips to Raise Positive Kids

Set an example of positivity to your kids

According to research, five-year-old kids can tell the difference between negative and positive thoughts. If parents create a positive environment, it can work wonders for a child’s positive self-image. Parents can do this by encouraging kids to take up a hobby they enjoy or take a more positive attitude to life’s problems.

Make your kids alert to pinpoint negative thoughts

For kids to understand the need to be positive, they need to first learn what negative thoughts are. You need to make your kids understand what they feel. Psychologists do this by teaching kids to learn a lesson from a negative situation by showing the feelings they go through and recognize them and think about them once the feeling passes. This gives them the idea that every time they have a negative experience, they will bounce back if they are optimistic and positive.

Let your attitude and words be positive

Speak positively and let there be optimism in your thoughts, words and deeds. Chant sayings like “I can do this” or “Today’s the day for me” and tackle any challenges that come your way.

Allow them to take risks, even if they fail

Children can become confident and positive by showing what they can do and be deemed as competent. By knowing they have a talent that makes them better than their peers is a very uplifting feeling for a child. This can lead to an optimistic outlook–something they can continue to feel if they have a talent. However, they may feel challenged or frustrated and perhaps end up failing. Well, that’s fine too.

After all, they can depend on you to learn from their mistakes. They may take huge risks if their self-confidence is unrealistic. If children are always kept away from failure and need, they will never be able to learn optimism. This is because when kids make mistakes, they learn that they can beat the challenges that are ahead of them. However, they need to know that the risks they take are appropriate and part of their development process. After all, a child shouldn’t feel overwhelmed repeatedly as this can cause insecurity in him.

Be affectionate towards your child

Be demonstrative in your love towards your child. Set aside some time for him every day. Don’t be self-conscious about hugging or cuddling him whenever you want to. Show him how much you love him by using words that mean love. According to researchers, children of loving parents are more hopeful than others. On the strength of your love for your child, he can build bonds of trust in this world, since he considers the world a safe and a good place to be in. This helps give rise to optimism in him.

Experience gratitude

Ask your child to think of all the things he enjoys and likes to do. These will create a positive attitude in him. To know what makes him happy and positive, ask your child to diagrammatically depict what makes him happy and ask him to think and tell you why they love this aspect of their life. Though your child can draw many such pictures as he grows, his drawings may change with time, but will always be a reflection of the positive aspects of your child’s life.

Praise your child genuinely 

Whether we are children or adults, we like to be praised. Children love this too, particularly if you tell them that they’ve done a job well. However, your child will believe and value your praise if you’re judicious about it. This means that if you keep praising him to the skies regardless of his performance, he may not value what you say, making the entire exercise backfire on you. He will see through your false praise. By over-praising him and giving him a focus that’s unrealistic could make him prone to depression. So, keep evaluating his activities and performance and tell him when he’s done excellently or not too well or badly, so that he comes to believe you.

It might take a while and a lot of techniques to teach your child optimism and positivity. But if you’re raising a generation, you ought to do it perfectly. So, why not have a positive child?