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Starting anything new can be scary. It is easy to come up with plenty of reasons to not put yourself out there or step out of your comfort zone and try something new. The same goes for building confidence as a hands-on parent.
Maybe you have been thinking about trying some activities with your kids, or maybe you are trying to get back into the hands-on mode.
If you are anything like me when I first started this journey, I bet you have several thoughts swirling in your head that are getting in your way. I was sure that it would cost a lot of money and require lots of specific materials and thought that the activities would take forever to set up.
Sound familiar?
All these thoughts are doing is draining your confidence in your abilities to have fun and connect with your kids.
I did simple art projects with my oldest from a very early age; we colored and painted a LOT. As she got older, and I had my second daughter, I started to read more and more about doing activities with my kids.
It sounded great, but I held out.
I let these mental blocks convince me this wasn’t something I could do.
Until one day, I just did it.
I hope that these five simple activities will help you get past your mental blocks, find your confidence as a hands-on parent, and just start.
Confidence Is Universal
Another area that I feel like our family is really hitting our stride right now is in financial matters. April is Financial Literacy Month, and our sponsor SunTrust’s onUp Movement wants to help us move towards financial confidence one step at a time. We have worked really hard recently to get a handle on our money and are reaping the benefits as we are currently building our forever home.
The basic steps you can take to boost your financial confidence can easily be applied to building your confidence as a hands-on parent. Think about what is holding you back or tripping you up, and find ways to eliminate or work around the problems.
When I decided I wanted to start doing activities with my kids, I found activities that directly addressed some of my biggest mental blocks. Hopefully these will help you, too, build confidence as a hands-on parent.
Here are 5 activities to help you just get started being confident:
1. Simplest sensory bin EVER
Sensory bins don’t have to be messy or complicated.
Fill a bin with any sort of dry food from your pantry (pasta, cereal, beans, rice, oats), give your child some scoops and containers in a few different sizes and see what happens.
This was the first activity I ever did with my kids. I gave them a bin of dry pasta and a couple of scoops and containers and they played for over an hour!
2. No-mess finger painting
Squirt a couple colors of finger paints into a plastic storage bag and let your kiddo go to town!
They can squish and squeeze, lay it flat and rub their fingers across the bag like they are painting. Let them play whichever way they want to explore it.
If you are new to activities and the idea of getting messy is holding you back, try getting your feet wet this way!
3. Masking tape race track
Activities don’t have to mean sitting at a table, making fancy art projects. Use masking tape or painter’s tape (affiliate link) to create a racetrack on any non-carpeted floor of your house.
I did one around our whole first floor and the kids had a blast driving their cars, riding our various ride-on toys and even just running all around the house.
4. Super simple process art project
It can be really easy (for both you and your child) to get caught up in what the end result of an art project “should” look like.
“Doodle and paint” is a great activity to help everyone focus on the process, not the outcome.
My girls all loved this one. They doodled or drew a simple picture with a sharpie, then used watercolors to fill in the doodles/picture.
5. Play dough
You don’t need complicated materials or to spend a ton on tools and accessories. We love homemade dough, but there is nothing wrong with the store bought stuff (affiliate link) either! It’s super easy to make and customize.
Give them a few accessories (play dough tools or kitchen tools like cookie cutters and rolling pins) and they are good to go!
Open-ended play like this allows them to be super creative, plus it is a great sensory experience. It’s easy for you to play with them, which makes it more fun for everyone, and it’s really good for strengthening little hands.
Hopefully, these activities will help you just start doing activities with your kids, and help you build confidence as a hands-on parent.
Which of these activities will help you build your confidence and just get started? Comment below!
Self-confidence and financial confidence are inter-related. When we feel good about our money, we feel good in many other aspects of our lives.
Visit onUp.com to find tools to help you move towards financial confidence, one smart step at a time.
At SunTrust Bank their purpose is lighting the way to financial well-being. When you feel confident about your money, you can save for your goals and spend knowingly on what matters most to you.
The onUp Movement is 1 million strong… and growing. onUp is about having the confidence to move forward one smart step at a time.
Join now and start building your financial confidence today.
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of SunTrust. The opinions and text are all mine.
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