Self-esteem Games that Build Wholesome Self-esteem
Self-esteem games are another variety of training games you can play with kids.
You'll find four other varieties,
in the section 'Games for Kids'.
If you want to look up another variety of games return to the home page here.
There's a NEW self-esteem game at the end. It's called 'I Can Remember'. Learn it and surprise your parents, family, friends and teachers by your ability to remember random words of their choice.
On this page you'll find two training games described:
- 'A' Grade!
- What do you like about me?
Let's begin with the first of the training games
1. 'A' Grade! is one of the self-esteem games (an example of kids-learning-games) on this page which basically uses paper and pencil. You can learn how to:
- Visualize a dream future,
- List your strengths,
- List your potentials.
This self-esteem game is very exciting for kids because they are in charge of it. All the adult does is give them instructions on how to go about it. Precede the game with an empowering story like
"David and Goliath"
The Self-esteem game - A Grade!
Material Needed: A 3x5 Card, a pen, scotch tape.
When should this self-esteem game be played? The game can be played on different occasions. It should however be played at the beginning of preparing for an occasion. For instance it should be played at the beginning of a term, or at the beginning of preparing for an event, a tournament, a performance etc.
Objective of the self-esteem game: That every child gives herself an 'A' grade.
Instructions for the game: 1. Remind the children of how David gave himself an 'A' in the battle against Goliath even before it began. He gave himself an 'A' in spite of the fact that he was:
- Way Smaller than Goliath
- Did not have any armor
- Did not have any weapons other than a sling and a few stones
- Goliath ridiculed him
- His brothers did not believe in him
He gave himself an 'A' because he recounted his strengths.
- His experience of dealing with lions and bears while caring for his sheep
- His assessment of the same help being available to him in this new challenge
2. Tell them to imagine themselves in the future when they are receiving their grades for their performance in the Math exam. Tell them to give themselves an 'A' grade in it.
3. On the same card, (still operating in the future) below the grade tell them to write all those things that they have done well because of which they have got an 'A' grade. This is the step where they will list out their strong points, which contributed to their success.
4. The next section in the card is a list of resources (people and material) which helped them score an 'A'.
[The comments in both sections should be in a positive vein. They should indicate actions that the children have taken (not at the cost of others) which has helped them achieve their goal. So a comment like 'I will stealthily 'borrow' Jane's assignment and copy her work' is unacceptable. Comments like 'I will study with Jane and prepare notes for all the areas that I cannot manage do on my own' are acceptable.]
5. After they have finished, ask for some volunteers to share what they have written.
6. Provide them scotch tape to stick this card on their desks or lockers where they have the opportunity to see and read it everyday.
7. Ask them two questions which will allow them to reflect on the activity. The questions being: 'How do you feel?' and 'What are they learning?'
You will hear comments like: 'I don't know.', 'I feel capable.', 'I am thrilled that I got an 'A' even if it was an imaginary situation.' 'I find there are quite a few things that I can actually do to get an 'A'.' and 'Hey my memory is so good, now all I need to do is make sure that I do not forget to revise the day's lesson.'
8. These comments are samples. All of them are valid. Encourage them to speak about it. The more they are able to vocalize their feeling and talk about their learning, the more their committment towards the goal.
9. Remember this is an example for self-easteem games. Ask them to go through this card whenever they have the time. Also it is a great thing to go back to when they are feeling down or confused.
10. Encourage them to use this technique whenever they are faced with a challenge i.e. visualize themselves winning the challenge. It amounts to giving themselves an 'A' grade.
This self-esteem game works with any age group. It can be used in motivation training sessions as well.
Let's look at the second self-esteem game
2. What do you think of me? (an example of kids-learning-games) which basically uses paper and different colored sketch pens.
The Self-esteem game - What do you think of me?
Material Needed: One A4 sized plain sheet of paper per child, a few packets of colored sketch pens, a box of safety pins.
When should this self-esteem game be played? When you want your students to perform as a team and you want them to bond with each other. The secondary outcome of this game is very powerful for building the self-esteem of the individual child.
Objectives of this self-esteem game:
1. Write one admiring statement about your team member.
2. Read, reflect and thank your team members.
3. Learn to work for something to admire in another person.
Instructions for this self-esteem game:
1. Instruct everyone to pin a plain sheet of paper on to the backs of one other person. Have them use the safety pins and caution them to do it carefully so as to avoiding piercing the skin of their teammate. At the end of this step every student has a sheet of paper pinned to his back.
2. Then ask them each to select one colored sketch pen from among the sets of pens provided. It is possible that two students in the group will have the same color. That is okay.
3. At this stage each of the students should go around writing on the pages pinned to the backs of their teammates. They are expected to write one characteristic of their teammate that they admire. It has to be written in a couple of sentences only.
4. At this there is a lot of fun and laughter as students are trying to write straight on somebody's back. You'll find some of them feeling tickled, while others are laughing at what somebody else wrote before them.
5. When everybody has finished writing, the sheets are unpinned and given to the person to whose back it was pinned.
6. As the students read this you are greeted with a feeling of awed wonder at the admiring statements that have been written. Then you'll hear chuckles which slowly turn into tinkling happy laughter.
7. Advice the students to preserve this sheet in their wallet or their purse and use it when they are feeling low or discouraged.
8. Also advice them to use this new learning of seeing something positive in everyone they meet. It is a seed that they are sowing for their own good. For as often as they find something delightful in others, so often will they be treated similarly by others.
Let's look at another self-esteem game.
3. 'I Can Remember' - A NEW self-esteem game!
This game functions on the concept of 'imagery'. A detailed explanation of this concept and the 'memory-peg' used to explain this game is found in the book 'Dimensions of Learning' by Robert J. Marzano et al published by ascd.org.
'Imagery' involves three factors needed to remember - a picture / a mental image, an imagined physical sensation, a currently experienced emotion emanating from the previous two.
You will need:
1. A person (other than you) or a group of persons who will call out words that they want you to remember.
2. A chart if you are facing a group of people, which is kept behind you and you are forbidden to look at it at any time during the game. If you are playing with just one other person, then they will need to have a sheet of paper to note down the list of words that they will ask you to remember. Of course, a pen will be needed for writing.
3. If you are using a chart, you will also need a volunteer who will write the words on the chart, which the group will call out.
4. You will also need a memory peg like the one below to play this game. You have to know this peg thoroughly. It's not difficult to remember as it uses rhyming words to remember the numbers
One - bun
Two - shoe
Three - tree
Four - door
Five - hive
Six - sticks
Seven - heaven
Eight - gate
Nine - line
Ten - hen
How to Play?
1. Face the group or your partner and ask the group / your partner to call out a word one at-a-time.
2. Each time the group calls out a word, take time to process the word using the picture suggested by the memory-peg given above. For example if the word is: 'versatile'.
it's the first word, so you'll use the peg - 'one - bun'. Imagine the bun being made of versatile material like 'clay' (that's your picture or mental image).
Mentally form it into a bun with your hands and as buns are meant to be eaten, put the 'versatile' bun in your mouth and try to chew on it (this is your physical sensation, forming it with your hands and trying to chew it with your mouth).
Doing this mentally will produce an emotion of disgust as you try to chew the 'clay' bun (this is the emotion produced by the previous two processing aspects). This ends your attempt at processing the first word 'vesatile'
3. Have them call out the next word. Do a similar mental processing exercise with it. Like this have them call out the remaining 8 words one-by-one. Process every one of the words that your friend / friends call out in the same way.
Suppose the other nine words are: universe, network, conduction, logarithm, mental, football, apologize, air conditioner, egg. The volunteer would have written these words on the chart behind you as they are called out. Or else your partner would have written it down on a sheet of paper hidden from you.
4. Having completed the processing ask your friend or friends to call out the numbers in order one by one. When they call out '1', you will be able to recall that it's 'versatile' and so speak out the word aloud for everyone to hear. '2' would be 'universe', '3' would be 'network' etc. Like this have them call out numbers all the way till 10.
5.Next have them call out numbers in reverse order beginning with '10' and ending with '1'. Each time they call out a number, you'll find that you can recall the word and say it out aloud. By this time they will be impressed by you and so will you, be impressed with yourself - I mean.
6. Finally have them call out the numbers in random (any order) order. You'll find that you can still remember. It'll appear almost magical and superhuman to them, as they are not aware of the memory-peg that you have used. Later, after the game is over, you can reveal your secret and you can teach them the peg if you like.
7. You can increase your capacity of words / ideas / concepts to remember by simply increasing the size of the memory peg. Make up some of your own, from eleven to twenty or thirty or fifty and use it remember them all. You'll come out DAZZLING!
One of these days I will shoot a video of the process and paste it below as a sample. But, don't wait for it. Try it on yourself first to gain confidence and then with a friend or two and soon you'll be able to use it to remember whatever is important.
If you need information on other self esteem games please go to the Contact Us page.
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