I Am Special Because…

Kids are extremely honest. Sometimes
way too honest. They can easily hurt each other’s feelings and not even realize
it. At times they say things that can have a lasting impact and damage someone’s
self-esteem. Kids are also extremely resilient; sometimes a quick confidence
boost is all they need to completely change their day.

Here is how I did that for a
few girls that were feeling particularly down about themselves.

I took a piece of paper and
drew a tree map on it. I wrote my name at the top and underneath I wrote the
sentence, “I am special because…” I labeled the three parts of the tree map “I can, I like,
I’m good at.” I drew three blanks under each category and used this as a model
for them to copy.

I grabbed the girls, we chatted
for a bit and then I gave them each a blank piece of paper. I put my model in
front of them and they created their own copy.

It was so fun watching these three friends pump themselves and each other up and talk about how awesome they
all are.  I loved hearing them say things
like, “You’re really great at singing!” and “You’re always super helpful!” or “Remember
when we played on the trampoline? You’re so good at jumping!”

We only spent about fifteen
minutes together, I cannot believe how much their confidence soared in that
time frame.