Intro here – Physical Courage – Emotional Courage – Intellectual Courage – Social Courage – Moral Courage – Spiritual Courage
How to help your child develop PHYSICAL COURAGE
Physical courage involves acting even when you feel afraid; being brave even when your body could be hurt or you could die. It’s a biggie, and we see it most obviously in our emergency services, police forces, and military personnel and in the feel-good have-a-go hero stories that appear every year, tales of ordinary people being extraordinarily brave.
But it can also be bravery in the face of illness. Dante Marvin is a tremendous example of that. A young boy with brittle bone disease and scoliosis, whose infectious positivity in the face of extraordinary physical hardship won him a deserved Pride of Britain award in 2019. He found a way to rise above his physical troubles by focusing on making others happy.
So, how can you help your kid be physically braver?
HELP THEM DEVELOP A STRONGER BODY THEY FEEL GOOD ABOUT
- Encourage a love of sport and activity from an early age.
- Help them develop coordination and hand-eye skills – games like catch or ping pong are great!
- Encourage them to challenge and test themselves physically to make progress – “How many push-ups can you do today?”
- Show them a pathway to becoming stronger and more adept physically.
- Support them with great nutrition and opportunities to pursue physical activities in fun, age-appropriate ways.
HELP THEM DISCOVER PHYSICAL RESILIENCE & THE ABILITY TO ENDURE
- Create little challenges – “Can you stand completely still for 30 seconds or one minute without moving a muscle?” – that involves building tolerance for some level of safe physical discomfort.
- Deal with minor injuries calmly and without too much fuss.
- Don’t create drama where it’s not needed. In fact, teach first aid at the earliest practical opportunity.
- Demonstrate and live physical bravery – showing the ability to work hard physically, endure discomfort without calling attention to it, and maintain positivity and humour even when sick or slogging through some physical task (like the return journey after you’ve hiked too far).
- Showcasing tales of physical courage – firefighters, rescue workers, soldiers, emergency medical services in disaster zones, and people with illnesses and their families. Hold up the ideal. Let them see and hear stories of people who have endured and triumphed over great trials and tribulations.
HELP THEM HAVE PRACTICAL SKILLS & A SENSE OF COMPETENCY
- Kids need to learn skills, feel good about themselves, and feel like they can contribute and help.
- Developing fine motor skills will aid this. So, encourage them to try arts and crafts, play musical instruments, work on handwriting, manipulate tools, shape and sculpt clay or putty, and draw and paint. It’s everything and anything that encourages hand-eye coordination, focus and concentrated physical activity. It’s one of the big reasons our UK children’s magazine, Brilliant Brainz, is always packed with creative activities kids can do at home!
“Courage isn’t having the strength to go on – it’s going on when you don’t have strength.” ~ Napoleon Bonaparte
How To Raise Your Child To Be Courageous – 1. Physical Courage – 2. Emotional Courage – 3. Intellectual Courage – 4. Social Courage – 5. Moral Courage – 6. Spiritual Courage