In this activity, we will learn about self-esteem and why it is so important!
Materials
Colored construction paper
Scissors
Drawing materials like colored pencils, markers, etc.
Time Estimated:
20 minutes
Directions:
Use your scissors to cut out heart shapes from your paper. Every participant should have two hearts.
On the first heart, print out/write the following prompts:
I am proud of myself when I…
My favorite part about myself is…
I am really good at…
On the other heart, print out the name of someone you are doing the activity with– you will be partners with them! Everyone should have one partner.
On that second heart, write down the following prompts:
You are really good at…
I appreciate how you…
Something I respect about you is…
I can tell that you really care about…
Fill in the blanks for the prompts about yourself, then discuss those answers with your partner so that you can learn about each other.
Next, fill in the blanks in the heart with your partner’s name based on what you’ve learned about them.
Give the heart to your partner and reflect on your answers!
Think Like a Scientist!
How did you feel when you wrote things down about yourself, about others, or when you received compliments?
How do you think this activity affected your self esteem?
How could you use this activity to boost your self esteem in the future?
How Does it Work?
Social identity is who we interact with, how we interact with them, and why we interact with them. It is our conception of who we are based upon how we fit into our communities and social groups. Many different aspects go into forming social identity, but one of the most important factors is self-esteem.
Self-esteem is our conception of our worth based on our perceived ability to live up to our values and the perceived values of others. For example, if you think that you contribute a lot to society or your community, you will likely feel good about yourself and therefore have high self-esteem. This means that self-esteem has a large impact on social identity, as how you feel about yourself and your ability to contribute and interact with other people will help form your social identity and inform how you actually interact with others. You start to have self-esteem around eight years old, and this changes as you grow. Some reasons why self-esteem changes is because of the qualities we have, such as how we look and our gender. These qualities impact self-esteem because it changes how we are treated by people around us, such as our peers and parents.
Further Exploration:
At home, parents or caregivers can boost your self esteem if they are supportive and loving even when you do something wrong by saying things like “I appreciated the way you shared your toys with your sibling” or “you are awesome at using your words when you are angry.” As children grow up, their friendships become often more important for their self esteem and identity than their parents. Having encouraging friends who accept you can increase self-esteem, which is why it is important to uplift our peers. Additionally, how a child is socialized, both within family systems and their given culture, shapes how they perceive themselves and their function in the world around them. For these reasons, it is important to teach children how to boost others self-esteem and establish a community that will uplift theirs as well!
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