The summer is a beautiful time to take the kids out exploring. I try to be a mum that encourages outdoor play all year round, but there’s something about the summer that makes it all the more exciting.
Trouble is, there are some negatives when it comes to summertime exploring. A summer wardrobe might keep your kids cool, but shorts and T-shirts expose more skin, meaning cuts and scrapes are easier to come by.
Raising Fearless Kids (Despite the Bumps and Scrapes)
I’ve learnt not to leave my house without an emergency repair kit for the kids. The last thing I want is a graze to the knee ending our fun and creating a more apprehensive child. These bumps and bruises can derail a child’s confidence, so it’s important to have a ‘rescue kit’ at hand to patch up the damage.
My emergency kit from Safe and Sound is packed with items to help the kids make a quick recovery:
- Hand sanitiser
- Antiseptic spray
- Plasters
After you’ve treated any superficial scrapes, I think it’s essential to try and help your child brush it off mentally too. An inquisitive nature and a confident mindset will get them far in life.
Below are my tips for raising fearless kids, despite any bumps and bruises they might get along the way.
Big them up
A lot of parents naturally do this anyway, but I still think it’s an important point. Encourage your child to dream big. Talk about their plans for for the future, the way they view the world and the games they love to play. Every child should feel heard, and this in turn will boost their confidence.
Let them think they might become an astronaut, listen to what interests them, and don’t forget to tell them how proud you are.
Teach them it’s alright to fall down
Everyone makes mistakes. It’s normal to lose your footing, both physically and metaphorically. One minute you can be having the time of your life…
The next you might be on the ground.
In playing and in life, it’s all about how you pick yourself up.
Patch them up if they need it
If there’s an injury, I’m always on it straight away. Sometimes there’s a superficial wound to deal with, sometimes it’s just their confidence that’s been knocked. Either way, I’m always there to hug them better and patch them up with appropriate wound care.
It’s also important to teach them what they need to patch themselves up. In this case, a quick spritz of anti-bacterial spray and a plaster was all we needed. I used anti-bacterial hand gel too, just to make sure I wasn’t adding any nasties to the scrape I was treating.
Teach them how to be safe
Raising fearless children should never come at the expense of safety. In order to make them brave enough to explore, it’s important to teach them boundaries. Talk to them about what is and isn’t safe in all aspects of life to give them the skills to make their own decisions as they grow.
Allow them time to recover
If either of my kids end up with a bump or scrape, I always believe the best thing to do is encourage them to get back out there play. Patch them up if you have to and give them a hug if they need it.
When accidents happen, it can be a shock to the system. It might put them off climbing or running (or whatever they were doing), but you don’t want that fear to stay with them longer than it should. That old saying about getting back in the horse is true. You need to encourage your kids to regain their confidence in the things they love.
I find Greg is often soothed by a quick clean up and a chat. I distract him by letting him choose which design of plasters he’ll go for. Safe and Sound have some fabulous designs to choose from. These are the ones we’ve got:
Monsters, rockets, dinosaurs and robots seem to be preferred by Greg, but princesses, mermaids and unicorns are also available if they suit your child’s interests better.
Once Greg has been patched up, reassured and perhaps even had a chat about safety, he’s ready to get back on the horse (or the slide, as it were).
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