Kid’s Daily Affirmations for a better back to school

Today I’m talking all about why and how to use positive affirmations to build resilience in your kids. Grab the printable at the bottom of the post to keep the full list on your phone or on your fridge. Or print out the kid-friendly version and put it somewhere your child can see it. 

How are we already at back-to-school? Last year when my kids started preschool I happened to be reading about the power of affirmations. We dove into affirmations 

What is an affirmation?

Affirmations are simple positive statements that help you instill a belief or challenge a negative perception. In short, they help foster a sense of self worth and self esteem. 

Think of it as a mental workout in positivity. Just as we’d go to the gym and do a lot of repetitive exercises to improve our health, repeating affirmations regularly are little exercises for our mind and outlook. 

Why affirmations for kids?

Research has shown that we all learn our core belief systems as little children. Of course, you can work hard as an adult to change beliefs you learned as a child AND repeating a positive mantra alone doesn’t compensate for beliefs that are instilled in your kids by the way you treat them, BUT positive affirmations are a tool you can use to help shape your child’s outlook and identity. 

When to use affirmations for kids: 

We have started saying affirmations together in the car on the way to school. We say them at the same time each (school) day so they’ve become a habit and my kids will remind me if I forget to start them.

To integrate them into your routine and make them a habit, you can add these to any activity you’re already doing regularly with kids. For example, you can start saying affirmations each morning at breakfast, while they’re getting dressed, or a few as you hug them goodbye. 

They don’t have to be used in the morning but I love this way of framing their day and starting off with a positive outlook. 

Here are some great affirmations to use in the morning with your kids. We don’t do all of these every day. I keep “I am loved.” and “I am awesome” as daily standards but mix up it up, adding in 2-3  other ones depending on what they are struggling with at the moment. 

I also love the idea of having a weekly or monthly theme and adding in affirmations based around that theme. For example, if you’re focusing on kindness right now you could add in “I can be kind to everyone” and the next month when you’re focusing on overcoming obstacles you can use “Problems are challenges to help me grow.” 

My 3 and 5-year-old love leading the affirmations on the car ride now, saying them first and letting me and the other child repeat them. I’ll let them do the main ones and then add in one or two at the end. 

We also end our night each evening with affirmations and a goodnight kiss. Sometimes we do them altogether (the kids share a room) and sometimes I go up to each child’s bed and we whisper them quietly together. We have three we do each night and I add in another one or two depending on what they need that day. 

Kid’s Affirmations:

• I am loved.
• I play well with others.
• I can be kind to everyone.
• I am responsible for my own actions.
• I am helpful.
• I learn from my mistakes.
• Whatever I do, I give my best.
• Problems are challenges to help me grow.
• I love to learn.
• I am brave / I can be brave when I am scared.
• I am awesome.
• I am important.
• I can control my own happiness / Happiness is a choice / I can choose how I respond to things.
• I have teachers to want to help me learn and grow.
• Today is going to be an awesome day. / I am choosing to have an awesome day.

Grab the printable! Put in your email below and I’ll send you a PDF with the printable list to put on your fridge. You can choose between the longer list (great for older kids or for you to help younger kids with) or the shorter graphic based list perfect for younger kids. Put it on your fridge, tape it to the mirror, or screenshot it and keep it on your phone. 

Do you use affirmations with your kids?

What affirmations would you add to this list?