The Backpack Of Qualities: Improving Children’s Self-Esteem

With this simple but practical exercise you can help children improve their self-esteem.

Boosting our children’s self-esteem is essential for their correct development. To work on this aspect, exercises such as the qualities backpack can be used. Next, we’ll explain what it consists of.

But first, you need to know that self-esteem is the valuation that someone makes of himself, based on some subjective qualities.

This self-judgment depends on lived experiences, self-perception and the perception of others. Therefore, it is important that children, from the first years of life, feel loved and accepted by their immediate environment.

The Qualities Backpack: Improving Children’s Self-Esteem

The qualities backpack consists of reliving different experiences, feelings and thoughts with the purpose of showing and valuing all those strengths and weaknesses that someone has, giving special emphasis to positive characteristics and qualities. These, then, are the ones that should stay inside that imaginary backpack that accompanies someone throughout their life.

The main objective of this exercise is to improve and promote children’s self-esteem. In addition, this personal reflection activity helps children to acquire the ability to:

• Self-worth.
• Be aware of themselves.
• Recognize one’s qualities.
• Express your own thoughts and feelings.
• Have confidence in themselves.
• Accept yourself the way you are.

The Qualities Backpack: Steps to Perform the Exercise

To put the qualities backpack exercise into practice, we have to follow a series of steps:

1. The child is given a drawing of a backpack and several small blank papers cut out in a circular shape, to simulate stones.
2. The child must then write within these “stones” his own negative and positive qualities.
3. The qualities are glued to the design of the backpack.
4. Proceed to explain to the child that he should take some of these “stones” from the backpack of qualities, because he is very heavy.
5. The child must cross out the negative qualities, that is, the ones he wants to let go of.
6. Finally, the positive qualities are colored in order to highlight them and give them greater importance.

All of these steps are necessary to guide the child through the process of:

• Self-reflection.
• Self knowledge.
• Self-worth.
• Self-acceptance.

That is, in developing and creating good self-esteem.

The origin of child self-esteem

We cannot forget that self-esteem has its origins in the social environment in which children interact and, moreover, concretely, also in the bonds they establish with those closest to them (family, friends, teachers, etc.). These people significantly influence the development of low or high self-esteem. In this way, children perceive their qualities in terms of:

• The interpretation that others make of their conduct and behavior.
• From the information that others transmit about their virtues and their faults.
• The way she is treated by others, especially her loved ones.

Therefore, taking this into account, it can be concluded that performing the qualities backpack exercise is not enough to increase children’s self-esteem. This activity simply serves as a help, but what is truly important and necessary is to reinforce and pay attention to the child on a daily basis, making him feel valued and loved.