22 Self Esteem Activities for 3-5 Year Olds (Preschool & Kindergarten)

Self-esteem is one of the most valuable things we can help our children develop. And the good news? You don’t have to wait until they’re older—or have a long, serious talk—to start building it. Even at a very young age, there are simple, meaningful ways to help your kids grow in confidence.

Through playful activities and small, everyday moments, you can lay the foundation for a strong sense of self-worth—one that helps your child feel loved, capable, and ready to take on the world. These little things can lead to a big difference in how they see themselves and how they approach life.

With that in mind, I’ve gathered some fun and easy self-esteem activities perfect for 3- to 5-year-olds. Let’s dive in and help our little ones grow with confidence!

Why Is Self Esteem Important for 3-5 Year Old’s?

According to a study done by the University of Washington, self-esteem is already established in kids by the time they are five. So, those first few years are super important.

The study says, “self-esteem appears to play a critical role in how children form various social identities. Our findings underscore the importance of the first five years as a foundation for life.” With this knowledge, it is good to come up with self esteem activities for 3-5 year old’s to help improve a child’s self-esteem.

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What To Teach 3-5 Year Old’s About Self Esteem

Teaching kids about self-esteem isn’t about giving them a long lecture or explaining complex ideas. In fact, it’s much more effective—and meaningful—when we focus on weaving self-esteem boosters into their everyday life. Through simple activities, routines, and positive habits, children can naturally begin to build a healthy sense of self-worth.

There are small but powerful things we can do to help young kids grow in confidence, learn to love who they are, and become more self-aware. These early experiences lay the groundwork for how they view themselves and how they interact with the world around them.

The Best Self Esteem Activities for 3-5 Year Old’s (Kindergarten & Preschool)

There are several ideas that you can use to help children with self-esteem. You will also want to find the best one that works for you and your family. Maybe just implementing one of these things will work, or maybe you like 4-5 of them.

If you have no idea where to start, just pick one that sounds easiest and the most natural for you to implement and start doing it. Just see what happens.

Here’s my list of the best self esteem activities for 3-5 year old’s. I hope you find some that you like!

Small Chores & Tasks

Giving kids responsibility has been known to show an increase in how they feel about themselves. Knowing that they can accomplish a task on their own, gives them confidence and pride. Even if they complain about doing it or while they are doing it, the feeling of accomplishment is there.

Plus, the more kids realize they can do, the better they feel, and the easier it gets. Positive feedback is also a great way to encourage them to complete tasks. If you’re looking for some reward charts or chore charts to help complete daily tasks, you can check them out in the graphic below.

One On One Time

Spending one on one time with your child helps to create a lasting closeness and relationship with them. It also makes them feel loved and safe. If children can feel loved and safe at home, they are more confident in the world. Some one on one time ideas include:

• Go for a walk
• Read a book together
• Go bowling
• Go out to breakfast, lunch, or dinner
• Go get dessert
• Learn a new skill together
• Do a puzzle
• Bake together
• Build something with blocks or Legos
• Watch a movie
• Star gazing
• Picnic
• Build a fort
• Go play mini golf

There are so many different things you can do together. For even more ideas, check out this boredom jar activity.

Read Books Together

There are some pretty awesome books out there that help kids learn to be confident, and can teach them at their level: Confidence is my Superpower, A Little Spot of Confidence, or The Girl Who Makes a Million Mistakes.

Set Goals

Help your child set small goals for himself and help him achieve them. These can be simple like brushing teeth every morning or night, waking up with a dry diaper, or picking up toys once a day.

I Love It When

Kids love to hear positive things about themselves. I heard once that what you tell your kids everyday becomes their inner monologue.

So, one thing that is good to do is tell them everyday at least one thing you loved about them that day. I try to do this every night before my kids go to sleep.

Exercise

Exercise has a huge effect on our mental health, and that includes little kids. Make sure your kids are getting plenty of exercise, and it’s even better if they get it outside.

Act Of Kindness

Serving others is one of the best ways we can feel good about ourselves. Teach your kids to be kind and help others when they are young. Do kind things together as a family.

Post: 24 Healthy Habits and Practices Every Family Should Try

Compliment Ball

Grab a soft ball and gather your little ones—it’s time for a feel-good game that’s as simple as it is powerful. As you toss the ball to someone, give them a compliment. It can be anything kind or encouraging—“You’re so fun to play with!” or “I love your smile!”

This activity is especially great for younger kids, even three-year-olds. Don’t worry if they repeat the same compliment over and over—that’s perfectly fine! The goal is to get them used to speaking kind words and hearing them in return. With each toss, they’re building connection, confidence, and a little more self-esteem.

Happy Journal

Write down all the things that you make you happy each day. You can do this with a journal, or just ask your child what made her happy that day. Getting into the habit of recognizing the good and how they feel is great for self-esteem.

If your child is starting to read and write, you can get a happy journal for him or her.

Decision Making

One great way to build your child’s confidence is by letting them make some of their own decisions throughout the day. These don’t have to be big or overwhelming—just simple choices like what to eat for lunch, which show to watch, or when they’d like to take their bath.

You can even offer them opportunities to make “bigger” choices in situations where the outcome doesn’t really matter. It gives them a sense of control and helps them feel capable and respected.

A helpful tip? Create a visual Choices List with pictures or words they can easily understand. Giving them a few clear options to pick from makes decision-making fun and manageable—and it empowers them to take part in their daily routine with confidence.

Printable: Healthy Snack Options Chart

Make Something Together

Do a craft together (there are some great ideas below for self-esteem crafts), or make cookies or dinner. Find something you can create together.

Try to let your child take the lead most of the time, just be there to assist. It could even be as simple as building a house out of blocks together.

Write Down What They Are Good At

Make it a habit to regularly point out something your child is good at—whether it’s every day or at least once a week. It could be something big, like how well they shared with a sibling, or something small, like how carefully they colored a picture.

When you take the time to notice and name their strengths, you’re helping them see the good in themselves. You might say it out loud in the moment, or take it a step further by writing it down and hanging it on the fridge where they can see it often. Imagine the confidence boost they’ll get from a growing list of their own unique abilities!

Over time, this simple practice helps build a strong sense of self-worth. Your child will begin to recognize their own talents and feel proud of who they are—and that’s a beautiful gift to carry into every part of life.

Positive Thinking

Help create habits of good positive thinking. This could be a reminder each morning to “make it a great day”.

Remind your child that he is in charge of his own happiness. Another great book that we have worked on in the past is called Be Positive. I think it has some great activities in there.

Mirror Activities

Do some mirror self talk. Tell your kids to look in the mirror and say “you’re awesome”, “you’re strong”, “you’re beautiful”, or whatever you decide.

Making this a habit is great practice, and helps them learn to really believe it! Some great things to say in the mirror include:

• I am doing great
• I believe in myself
• I love me
• I am full of love
• I am brave
• I am kind
• I am capable
• I am strong
• I am hopeful
• I am going to make today a great day
• I love my life
• I am healthy
• I am safe
• I love my body
• I am grateful

Kids Coloring and Affirmation cards are a great way to start.

Self-Aware Mood Tracker

Helping kids become more self-aware plays a big role in developing healthy self-esteem. When children can recognize what they’re feeling—and begin to understand why—they’re better equipped to handle big emotions and navigate life with confidence.

Think about it: many adults struggle to explain why they’re upset or frustrated. But if we can teach kids early on to pause, check in with themselves, and identify their emotions, they’ll be one step ahead. They’ll start to notice what makes them happy, sad, angry, or anxious—and more importantly, they’ll learn how to respond in healthy ways.

One simple and effective tool to build this skill is an Emotions Check-In Chart. It gives kids a safe and consistent way to name their feelings and start making those valuable connections between emotion and behavior.

The Top Self Esteem Crafts for Preschoolers

There are some simple crafts that you can do to help build a child’s self-esteem. Some of these compliment the above listed activities. These can easily be done in the home or at school. These crafts can be as simple or as advanced as you’d like. The templates included can help.

Color & Make a Reward Chart

As mentioned above, have your child or student complete daily tasks to help build confidence in her abilities. You can even have a reward chart to help her accomplish it each day.

Reward charts can be fun, and to help them get excited for it, you can make one together. Here is a fun coloring reward chart.

Mirror Craft

Make this fun mirror craft by using mirror paper, so it can look like an actual mirror. It’s easy and fun to put together and can help children feel empowered. The template includes instructions as well as positive affirmations on each mirror.

Acronym Name

Create a fun acronym with their name. For example:

C- Charming
H- Happy
A- Amazing
R- Radiant
L- Loving
I- Intelligent
E- Excellent

Help your child come up with positive words that best describe him or her. You can create the acronym with a computer and print it out for each child.

Or, just write their name vertically on a paper or poster paper. You can also encourage your children to decorate their paper/poster when complete.

Color Their Face

It’s interesting to ask children to make a self portrait because you never know how they perceive themselves. This is a great way to help see how they see themselves and possibly correct it, or encourage them. A super simple craft, but lots of fun.

Affirmations Craft

Positive affirmations can go a long way. You never know which one will stick or which one they will learn to have on repeat in their head.

Color these fun affirmations cards, or make your own, and then store them in a jar and draw one every day or week. Or, you can read through them each day with your child. The printout includes different ideas on how you can use the affirmation cards.

Confidence Flower

Make a confidence flower using this template. Children write the things they love about themselves on each petal and then glues the petals and center into a flower.

Their name would be written in the center, and they can color it however they like. Instructions are included with template. You can make this craft as simple or advanced as you like, there are 2 different templates to help.

Collage of Things They Love

Help your child make a collage of things that they love and things that they love about themselves. Use old magazines or print off some images and words online. You could do the cutting while the child glues the words and images onto a poster board or paper.

This is a fun way to see all the things they love. It is also a great way to do a vision board, if they wanted to set some simple goals. If you’d like to do all these crafts, you can check out the confidence bundle, which has all the templates!

Where Can I Use These Self Esteem Activities and Crafts for 3-5 Year Old’s?

The beauty of these self-esteem activities is that they can be used just about anywhere—at home, in the classroom, during playdates, or even shared with grandparents and other caregivers. After all, raising confident, emotionally healthy kids truly is a team effort. It takes a village, and these small moments of encouragement can make a big difference no matter who’s involved.

Some of the activities are simple enough to slide right into your daily routine—like during breakfast, before bed, or while getting ready in the morning. When they become a regular part of your day, they start to feel natural and even expected, which is great for building consistency.

Other activities work well as more intentional moments—perhaps during circle time in preschool, in a classroom setting, or as part of a family night. Whether casual or planned, each activity helps lay the foundation for stronger self-esteem, one meaningful moment at a time.

Teaching preschoolers and kindergartners how to have good self esteem is important. You can use the self esteem activities for 3-5 year old’s above to help to do it.

Helping little ones build good self-esteem is more important in this age than we probably think. They have already established self-esteem by age 5. Try to start implementing some of these activities and crafts into your routine, so you can help facilitate their growth.

They don’t take up much time, and it’s the little things that make all the difference. A lot of these are also great for the classroom. You can do them in preschool, which can help parents at home.

However, don’t worry too much about not doing enough or doing it in time. Just do your best, and start small. It can even be just telling your child something you love about him or her before bedtime.