Activities For Self Confidence:
A Look At Boost Kids' Educational Cirriculum
Social skills and character development are a very important part of any educational experience. When children are secure in themselves, able to overcome challenges, and make good decisions in life their performance in school greatly benefits. Instead of being upset over a small set back or anxious about asking the teacher a question they are able to efficiently deal with these situations, improving their level of school functioning academically and socially.
Helping children in this process is the sole focus of Boost Kids. Each of the four components in the Boost Kids curriculum, the instructor book, CD-ROM, student book, and flash cards, features a variety of activities for self confidence development. Below these four components are broken down individually each containing a list of the activities for self confidence development that can be implemented from each component. These activities are suggestions collected from our own experience in working with young people and from the teachers, counselors, and parents who have also used the curriculum.
- Instructor Book Activities for Self Confidence Development
“Get Up and Speak”- This is the first activity on the agenda in our group sessions. Each child stands up and discusses the question or topic of the day. They are simple like a favorite vacation or kind of music. This is created to give kids the experience of speaking in front of others, which is a great way for them to build self confidence.
- Group Exercises – These exercises present a variety of opportunities for students to gain valuable experience practicing the skills and strategies discussed in Boost Kids. Here are a few examples:
- Greeting Line- Create two lines and have a student from each line walk towards each other and engage in a casual greeting making sure to follow the principles discussed in Boost Kids.
Telephone Manners – Create a situation where one student is calling another student. Practice both circumstances where they are calling someone and when they are receiving a call. Assign roles to the students such as the parent of a friend or their parent’s co-worker and follow the principles discussed.
- Saying “Thank You” – Before starting the session casually give a piece of candy to each student and see if they say “thank you”. Then read the lesson and after finishing give them another piece of candy and see if they say “thank you” this time. This is done to create a real life situation where the students can gain experience in saying “thank you”.
- Role Plays – Acting out social and character situations can be very helpful. Within the instructor book there are a variety role plays for the students to act out. Things like greeting people, listening, overcoming challenges, respecting others, many more. This activity focuses not only on the principles learned from the topic but also builds confidence by role playing in front of others. The situations portrayed are everyday occurrences so creating your own in addition to these will not be difficult.
Class Discussions – Class discussions are very valuable. They allow the instructor to better understand the feelings of the students toward a certain topic. They also allow the students to express their own opinions which can be helpful in clarifying what they learned. Examples of questions posed to help facilitate a discussion might be, “How do you accomplish a goal?” “Give us an example of when you overcame a challenge?” “What is peer pressure and does it affect you?”
- CD-ROM Activities for Self Confidence Development
- Video Real Life Scenarios- The video real life scenarios on the CD-ROM show the student the wrong way and then right way to handle a situation. This process allows them to visually see the difference good social skills and character can make on the impression they leave on others. This activity is also a great way to open up discussion on a certain topic.
- Pre-Test and Post-Test - The CD-ROM also contains a pre and post test the student takes to gage where they are at before and after the program. By simply having the students answer these questions their awareness of these issues increases greatly, because they have to examine their own behavior. Then after completing the program they can compare their pre and post test scores.
- Student Book Activities for Self Confidence Development
- Readings – The student book contains readings on all 28 topics in Boost Kids. This is a great activity for learning the foundational principles of each topic. It is also a great resource for the students to refer to when they are faced with a situation.
- Quotes – Each topic also contains an inspiration quote to help the student internalize the principles learned. Reviewing these quotes is a great way for the student to expand their awareness and give them a deeper understanding of the topic.
- Fill in the Blank – The fill in the blank exercise at the end of each lesson provide the student with an opportunity to review and reinforce what they have learned
- Boost Flash Card Activities for Self Confidence Development
- Flash Cards – The students can use the Boost Cards just like flash cards. They can work with other students to review what they have learned. The testing student can grab a card and tell the listening student the topic. Then the listening student must tell the testing student everything they can about the topic as the testing student checks the back of the card for the correct answers. It is a great way for the students to teach themselves.
- Dealing the Cards – When you notice a student not following one the principles you covered in Boost Kids hand them that card and ask them to review it. If they did not say “thank you” to someone when they should have then hand them the say “thank you” card. This is a great avenue for discussing their behavior.
How BoostKids Can Help:
BoostKids is a program that can help increase a child’s confidence by teaching social skills to children and building their character. BoostKids has been and is currently being taught in schools, non-profit organizations, and after-school programs. The program is now available as an at-home training program for children and their parents. The key training tool of the BoostKids program is an interactive CD-ROM that shows kids the right-way and the wrong-way to handle social situations. They learn from real kid actors in real-life scenerios!
For more information about what’s included in BoostKids, click here.
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By Charlie Copp - Executive Director of Boost Kids
About the author: Charlie Copp is the executive director for BOOST KIDS, an interactive CD ROM-based program for kids ages six and up, that teaching children social skills and strong character across the nation. His work with BOOST KIDS confirms what Copp has always believed: that kids and teens are hungry for character-building life skills, and with them gain the confidence needed to succeed in the classroom, on the playing field, in their interpersonal relationships, and on the job.
