Share your tips for boosting confidence in small children for a chance to win a SIGNED copy of THE LION INSIDE plus a £100 JOHN LEWIS VOUCHER!

[SorchaMumsnet]

From the creator of the known and loved Bright Side lifestyle brand, Rachel Bright, and illustrator of Oi Frog!, Jim Field, comes a feel good rhyming story about one little mouse trying to make himself heard and discovering along the way that even the smallest of us can have the heart of a lion.

Perfect for fans of Giraffes Can't Dance, this stylish book from two contemporary stars really is something to shout about - it will make you laugh, cry and want to read it every bedtime.

Share your tips for boosting confidence in small children for a chance to win a signed copy of The Lion Inside plus a £100 John Lewis voucher!

This discussion is sponsored by Hachette and will close on 4 April when the winner will be posted on the thread.

Lots and lots and lots of praise!

DD is generally quite a confident child, but struggled when she started swimming lessons. I knew once she stopped shouting and went for it she would love it, but getting to that point was the challenge... In the end persistence, lots of praise and encouragement, her realising that complaining wouldn't get her out of the water and bribery with chocolate buttons got us there! (and I was right, she loves her swimming lessons)

Ah, we love Rachel Bright and Jim Field in our house, and Oi Frog! was a very entertaining read. We'll be checking out The Lion Inside for sure as both my DDs are 'small' girls so have had to work harder to make themselves heard! I've always tried to instill in them that 'small is beautiful'. I was called 'titch' at school so know first hand what it feels like to be the smallest in class! One of our favourite stories is also the Gruffalo, and we ALL know how courageous the mouse was in that story!

Don't shut them away with no other children around them, get them to social groups to engage with other children

Giving kids small responsibilities always seems to help with confidence. Being asked to mind their younger sibling for a moment, or to make sandwiches for the family for lunch. Then lots of appreciation for a job well done!

Words are wonderful for children to hear but I think the your facial expressions and eyes tell a story on there own. It shows such pride and happiness and really gives a child such support and encouragement.

Always encourage them, give them constructive praise and try to do things alongside them to help them develop confidence too. I always try to ensure I give them undivided attention so that they feel they are important

Lots of praise :-)
Even praising the little things that they do can make a huge difference to confidence.
I make sure that my children are all treat to their own personalities and abilities and never compare them with each other.

Safe Choices - I think offering safe choices is a good way of boosting a childs confidence. When faced with an either or situation give them safe choices thereby they will be successful and take ownership of the decision

Taking time and giving lots of praise however small the achievement is. Giving them the chance to share their achievement with relations (grandparents are especially good at this) by visiting or telephoning.

Give specific praise, for example instead of simply saying 'good job' say 'I really liked how when things got difficult you didn't give up, that makes me very proud of you'

Never make them feel small if they make a mistake but rather help them to see for themselves where they went wrong and praise them for putting it right.

I make sure they interact with lots of children by having parties and lots of tea's.

Giving praise and letting them know its okay to fail and make mistakes. Also when starting something new that might be difficult let them do the parts that are achievable first - that will build their confidence and then encourage them to continue with the bits that are harder

Praise them at every opportunity, get them to read and write with you and make it fun.

I have a 3 yr old so haven't been doing this for that long in the scheme of things, but I find that he responds really positively to praise and noticing when he has done something good. It makes him really happy and in turn wants to do more things good to get the same response. For example we started a sticker chart and when he's doing something really well, or being really kind or helpful he'll get a sticker and he's now started asking what he can do to help to earn himself another sticker. I can see that he's really enjoying doing things well and it's boosting his confidence and encouraging him at the same time.

I have two older boys and two girls, and with my youngest two, they were both lacking a little in confidence at school. Due to illness I began homeschooling them, and straightaway they grew more confident, and were happier. Not saying home education is for everyone, but for us, its been absolutely amazing. One thing that has helped my youngest is letting her pay for things in shops, and also, she loves to do the washing. She even shows my 17 year old how to seperate his darks and colours and how to put them on the right wash, and she's only five lol. Home educating is so much fun, we learn what we want to when we want to, and its completely changed my kids into confident bubbly kids that enjoy every single day, including the long lie ins! lol

Praise, praise, praise even for the little things

I try and boost my sons confidence by being there for him. Being positive. My son thrives on consistency. I tell him that i love him and try and praise him. Also take a lot about the positive things and not the negative ones.

It is important no to be too pushy and to always keep encouraging and supporting

Lots of praise and encouragement! Taking an interest in what interests your child and being supportive! Listen and talk to your child! (Really listen making eye contact, they know when you are not really listening)

lots of encouragement and praise.

Positivity is key. Be confident in them in order to increase their own confidence!
Also be empathetic and help them learn to be patient and calm.

Let them explore let them go outside their comfort zones. I think the trick is it has to be the right time for them, but encourage them as much as possible

Listen to them and lots of praise. Don't make a big thing of them not being able to do something, praise their efforts don't criticise. Always try to understand where a fear may have come from and think of ways to support them with it and understand its OK to be afraid of things, but some things aren't as scary as they might think. Don't try to force them to not be afraid but support them in learning that some things aren't as scary as they might think. Just support, encourage and lots of praise.