4 Free Printable Self-Esteem Worksheets for Kids

Are you wondering how to improve self-esteem for your child (or yourself)? Keep reading for tips as well as access to 4 free printable self-esteem worksheets!

The concept of self-esteem is tossed around pretty frequently; however, many people can’t seem to quite nail down what it is. And if we can’t say what self-esteem is, how on earth are we going to talk about how to improve self-esteem, right?

Self-esteem is a measure of how we perceive ourselves. Put another way, it’s how we view our worth. It exists on a spectrum and isn’t static throughout life or across all of one’s abilities.

And this is good news.

Since it isn’t static, it means you can learn how to improve self-esteem! These 4 free self-esteem worksheets are a great way to get started. Before I get ahead of myself, let’s talk about the benefits of working on self-esteem for both your child and yourself.

Benefits of Higher Self-Esteem

The benefits of high self-esteem are many and include:

• Increased resilience.
• Stronger intrinsic motivation.
• A sense of security in relationships.
• The ability to resist peer pressure.

On the other hand, low self-esteem can promote feelings of frustration and anxiety and potentially lead to negative coping skills such as not trying new things or giving up too easily. You can learn more about the benefits of improving self-esteem from PositivePsychology.com.

How to Improve Self-Esteem

In this post, I’ll focus on how to improve self-esteem in kids, but the concepts can also apply to adults. And everyone can benefit from improved self-esteem, so don’t be afraid to try out some of these tips for yourself!

Here are a few things you can do to improve self-esteem:

• Practice! Practice focusing on positive attributes and strengths. The self-esteem worksheets below are a great first step.
• Be realistic. While focusing on positives is beneficial, overly inflated praise, unattainable standards, and promoting false beliefs aren’t.
• Try new things. Don’t avoid challenges. It’s okay to go outside of your comfort zone. Focus on the effort you put into this new endeavor, not the outcome.
• Set realistic goals. Getting familiar with SMART goals can help with this.
• Work on developing healthy ways to solve problems, such as asking for help, exploring different approaches, and being kind to oneself.

Tip: While I think it’s great for parents to work on self-esteem with their kids, these worksheets and tips can also be used in the classroom. If you’re a teacher, these self-esteem worksheets are great back-to-school or first-day-of-school activities!

Printable Self-Esteem Worksheets for Kids

Self-Esteem Worksheet 1: 5 Things

Helping your child recognize their strengths and positive qualities is one way to help them build or improve their self-esteem. This worksheet is a great way to get started, as all they have to do is list 5 things they like about themselves. When starting out, allow your child to pick anything—big or small, insider or outside, accomplishment or characteristic.

As your child’s self-esteem improves, you can revisit this worksheet and focus more on strengths rather than surface value traits. For example, the first time around, your child might write “I like my green eyes.” It’s great that they appreciate something about their body! Noticing positive physical attributes can be especially challenging for teenagers, so this shouldn’t be discouraged.

However, as your child builds self-esteem, return to this worksheet and ask them to focus on strengths that they can cultivate. For instance, if your child writes, “I like that I am good at soccer,” you can go deeper and discuss all the effort your child has put into becoming good at the sport. Being dedicated and willing to work hard is definitely a positive attribute.

Self-Esteem Worksheet 2: I Am Awesome

This self-esteem worksheet for kids is a bit more creative and abstract in nature. To complete it, they’ll fill in each bubble with a different way they’re awesome. With 10 blank bubbles, this worksheet asks for twice as many positives as the first one. Don’t worry, they’ve got this!

Tip: Is your child creative? If so, challenge them to draw or decorate their answers. For example, if their ability to play the guitar is something they’re proud of, they could draw a guitar or write “play guitar” and draw musical notes around it! This extra step may help promote relaxation, as it’s similar to coloring, which can produce a level of relaxation comparable to meditating.

Self-Esteem Worksheet 3: A Little Help

If your child is really struggling to tackle these self-esteem worksheets, try this printable on for size. Some of the bubbles have already been filled in with ideas. Seeing a few bubbles pre-filled in may make the process less daunting!

Another way to help your child figure out what to put in the bubbles might be to ask them what they don’t like about themselves or what they think their weaknesses are. Kids (and, frankly, many adults) often have an easier time discussing what went wrong with a situation than what went right. Approaching this self-esteem worksheet from that angle will provide two opportunities:

1. You can gently challenge some of their negative self-beliefs. You may remember this from the earlier section on how to improve self-esteem. 😉
2. You can help your child reframe some of these “weaknesses” as “opportunities” using a growth mindset approach. Learn more about developing a growth mindset here.

Self-Esteem Worksheet 4: Gratitude Journal

Believe it or not, keeping a list of things you’re grateful for, both big and small, can (source):

• Reduce stress.
• Improve focus.
• Increase self-awareness.

So if your child is really struggling to focus on their positive attributes, you can invite them to start by looking outward.

Once your child finishes filling out the self-esteem worksheets, encourage them to read back what they wrote. Consider putting your child’s completed self-esteem worksheets somewhere where they can reflect on them—especially if the day becomes stressful! For example, you could include these self-esteem worksheets in their printable student planner.

Have you had success with self-esteem worksheets? Share your tips and experiences in the comments!