As leaders, we hope that we are doing all we can to empower young girls and build their confidence. We want our daughters and female students to grow up to be successful. We want them to be…

• Respected
• Honest
• Have a voice
• Be confident in their abilities

However, even today, women are still considered less than men. Women are still making less money than men. Our young girls need to see themselves as capable from an early age. 

When we empower young girls, we raise children who are more likely to be proud and advocate for others. Here are a few ways to encourage confidence in young girls. 

How to Empower Young Girls and Build Confidence

Empower Young Girls By Not Focusing on Her Looks

Being called beautiful, pretty, or cute is a great compliment for anyone to hear. However, our young girls must see themselves as more than just beautiful. 

Complimenting and recognizing her abilities that don’t revolve around her outward appearance will help her see those qualities in herself. We don’t just want our girls to feel pretty. We want them to feel…

• Smart
• Capable
• Funny
• Caring
• Kind

Research and Read About Female Leaders

From an early age, allow your daughter to see examples of other women succeeding. There are many resources out there that will expose your child to female leaders. Exploring these will let your daughter see that women are just as capable as men and model success. 

Books About Empowering Females

• Little Feminist by Mudpuppy and Yelena Moroz Alpert
• You Grow Girl! A Self-Empowering Workbook for Tweens and Teens
• She Persisted Set of Books

Look for resources to expose your daughter to female leaders of all colors and skills. 

Teach Her to Stick Up For Herself

Let’s say she wants to play a game at the park. But someone tells here she is not allowed to join because “no girls are allowed.” 

• Rather than teaching her to accept this behavior, encourage her to question it, and advocate for herself. 
• Don’t justify the behavior by saying, “boys will be boys.” Have a conversation with her about why it is unfair that they excluded her. 
• Then, give here the steps she could take next time to express her desire to play kindly. 

Let Her be Herself

Your daughter has her own personality and beliefs. Childhood is the perfect time to explore these. This is the time since they are developing and creating their own ideas about the world around them. Let her be…

• Loud 
• Adventurous
• Rowdy
• Spontaneous

Be careful not to limit her activities or designate activities as “boy” games or “girl” games. Encourage her to play whichever game she is interested in, regardless of whether she gets messy or if mostly boys are playing. 

Additional Resources to Empower Young Girls and Build Confidence

These tips to empower young girls will allow our daughters and female students to feel confident in their own decisions. It will build their confidence while exploring their own interests, without feeling limited to certain activities because of their gender. 

Below are additional learning resources to instill empowerment in your daughters: 

• STEM Education Activities
• 5 Tips For Building Self-Esteem In Children With Special Needs
• 8 Amazingly Easy Science Experiments Kids will Love
• Check out the Girls Empowerment Network

Have you found resources that your daughter loves? Please share in the comments. 

Do you have a child that needs more one on one assistance?  

We offer one-on-one special education tutoring that can be done from anywhere the student is! Why? Because our special education experts conduct their sessions online!

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