Introduction
Inculcating the mindset of a winner in your child is a good way to improve their performance in sports and activities. But it’s true that all sports and competitive activities come with their fair share of losses. While it is certain that failure doesn't define a child's worth, sometimes it may become a bit difficult for parents to explain this to their child.
As a parent whose child is continuously involved in competitive sports and extracurricular activities, you may be able to relate to this. During times of debacles, your child will need your support more than ever. If you are wondering how to support your child during times of failure mentally, here are some tips and tricks for parents.
Positive Outlook Towards Failure
As a parent, you must remember that a child will learn to respond to different situations by looking at your responses to the same situation. Thus, it becomes imperative to have a positive outlook towards the failures of your child. Your role as a parent should be to constantly motivate your child to do their best. You may also make them understand the value of participation and playing the game with utmost honesty and sportsmanship.
Listen To Their Feelings
It is quite natural for a child to feel demotivated after losing in a certain activity or a competition, despite practicing so much. In such a situation, as a parent, the best you can do is listen to them expressing their feelings. Children are supposed to feel the most secure with their parents. Hence, you must give your child the opportunity to express themselves freely without the fear of judgment. This may also serve as a therapeutic experience for your child, and they might instantly start feeling better. Always remember to validate what they're feeling.
Let Them Take a Break
If your child feels oversaturated after losing in a sports tournament or any activity that they have been practicing for a long time, let them take some rest. A brief sabbatical will help them analyze their performance and come back stronger. Consider this break as an opportunity to mentally strengthen them and make them understand the importance of failures in one's life. During this break, encourage them to try different activities that will help them relax and distract their mind.
Make A Dynamic Schedule For Your Child
As a parent, always try to make your child do different activities throughout the day. Encouraging them to try different experiences helps widen their perspective. Practicing a singular sport or an activity continuously may overstimulate the child and suppress him/ her with unnecessary pressure to perform well. A hybrid mixture of sports, mental activities, academics, and playing with friends helps keep the child happy.
Set Achievable Goals
To achieve a certain goal, it is always a nice idea to plan a certain series of steps that one needs to follow. However, for children, one must understand that over-expectations are never fruitful in the long run. Children should be allowed to discover their capabilities in a particular field on their own. Let the child experience the joy of pursuing a sport without having to worry about the output. This may help keep the child's interest active and avoid any unnecessary fear of failure.
Reward Them For Participating
To make your child understand the importance of participation, try to give them small prizes every time they participate in a particular activity or sport. The prize can be something as simple as a candy. This small gesture will make them feel appreciated and encourage them to participate even more. Recognizing their efforts and hard work, despite the output, is a good way to keep them motivated.
Let Them Socialize
There are many things that a child might not be able to share with their parents. Just like adults, children also like to socialize and make friends. As a parent, giving your child the liberty to make friends and socialize as much as they like may have many positive consequences. Having friends may be quite helpful during times of failure, as children can be extremely empathetic and share each other's sorrows. Also, spending time with friends allows the child to forget about failures and concentrate on enjoying the process of playing and learning new things.
Conclusion
These are some of the many steps that parents can incorporate in day-to-day life to deal with the failures in their child's life when it comes to sports or any other activity.
The views expressed are that of the expert alone.
