Nursery World - Confidence through play: Big boost

From the earliest days a child will grow in confidence and self-esteem by mastering new abilities through play, as Dr Richard Woolfson explains

Play is very important to the development of a child's self-confidence. The proud feeling of achievement that a three-year-old gets from something as simple as moving one step further up the climbing frame gives him great pleasure and a sense of self-satisfaction.

True, a child's enthusiasm for play stems from pleasure rather than an interest in boosting his self-confidence, but the two are intertwined. The more he plays, the more he strengthens his conviction in his own abilities, and this in turn makes him want to play with more challenging toys the next time. The experience of successful play boosts confidence and vice versa.

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