5 Confidence Building Exercises For Kids, Teens And Adults

Self-confidence plays a very important role in mental health. Without it, you may feel insecure in front of a new one or in a group situation. For this reason, we present five confidence-building exercises to help you work better in group situations, as it is very important to feel comfortable with other people.

Not only does trust enable the creation of pleasant and safe situations, it also facilitates personal interaction with others. To understand its importance, you can think about your feelings as well as their physical manifestations while you are in an unfamiliar environment.

A tense body and a worried mind may come to mind first. Next, think about how you will feel when you are in a familiar place or with a familiar person. You will definitely feel completely different!

However, trust is not built overnight, but requires time and gradual progress. For this reason, the five confidence-building exercises we present in this article can serve as a good starting point.

5 confidence building exercises for all ages

You can try these five confidence-building exercises with children, adolescents, and other adults. They also combine playfulness, making them entertaining for all ages.

It is a good idea to have one instructor involved in these exercises, focusing on giving instructions to the participants and ensuring that everything goes as planned. In addition, the instructor should remain attentive, act as a role model with his or her own attitude, and remember that other social and emotional abilities are also worked on in the exercises.

1. Crash exercise

One important confidence-building exercise to improve trust between group members is a fallout exercise. In order for the exercise to be done, the group must be divided into pairs in a large space. No tools are needed for the exercise.

The instructor should ensure that the parties to the pairs are not fully compatible, which in this case means that they are not similar in their physical and physical characteristics.

The parties of the pair should be face to face, with the toes touching each other. They should also hold hands.

When the parties of the pair are in position, the instructor gives a signal that the parties of the pairs start to fall backwards, but their pair protects them from falling.

The first feeling of the parties may be insecurity and some fear, but then all the members of the group start to feel more relaxed. The instructor can then make the exercise a little more difficult by asking participants to perform some additional movements.

The exercise can be completed within a specified time or after additional challenging tasks.

2. Swaying tree exercise

This confidence building exercise is an application of the previous confidence exercise. A scarf or other fabric is needed to cover the eyes for exercise, and it would be ideal to do the exercise in an open space.

Participants must stand in a ring. One volunteer goes to stand in the middle of the ring with his eyes blindfolded. Participants should relax their bodies.

When the facilitator gives the signal, the other participants should push and move the person in the middle from side to side. After a few minutes, another volunteer can go blindfolded in the middle of the ring.

The duration of the exercise depends on whether all participants want to go inside the ring or not. Otherwise, the exercise may take about 15-20 minutes.

3. Walking exercise

This confidence building exercise can be done with a couple in an open space. In this open space, objects of different shapes are placed on each side, marking both the starting and the finish line.

The group is divided into pairs and one of the pairs is blindfolded. One of the pairs guides the blindfolded person, giving him instructions so that he can complete the track safely.

The blindfolded party receives instructions such as “turn right,” “jump in the ring,” or “take two steps to the left,” depending on how the objects are placed in the space. The objects used can be various rings, cones or ropes. 

The duration of the exercise depends on the course the pair should complete. The parties in the pair switch roles during the exercise. It doesn’t matter how long it takes to complete the track. The most important thing is to walk the track safely and to feel confident when completing the course.

This exercise strengthens the confidence of the group members in each other. The only way to reach the finish line is to collaborate, which means that this exercise will make people better understand the importance of teamwork.

4. Praise exercise

Self-confidence can be worked on by instilling the value of personal positive qualities. This exercise requires six participants as well as a large space for participants to stand in a circle.

The members of the group should already know some of each other. Team members each need their own paper and pen.

The facilitator asks to write the participant’s own name on the paper. The facilitator then asks participants to give their own paper to the person sitting to the left of the ring.

The facilitator then asks participants to write on the paper something positive or something pleasant about the person whose name is on the paper. It is important to clarify that no malicious or inappropriate comments should be written on the paper. 

Once all participants have written something positive on each group member’s paper, the facilitator begins to read the papers or asks the volunteer to read them. If desired, participants can dig deeper into the surface and write more on paper about each participant.

The purpose of this exercise is to improve your self-confidence as well as your self-esteem based on how others see you.

Another way to do this exercise is to put the papers in a box, and each participant draws on a piece of paper another group member.

5. Tell us what you are drawing

In the last confidence-building exercise, the group is divided into pairs, and each pair is given a piece of paper and a pen. One of the pairs starts drawing the picture so that the other party of the pair does not see the picture. There is time to draw a picture for a few minutes.

Once everyone has had their picture drawn, the instructor gives a signal that the person who drew the picture must begin to give instructions to the other party so that they can reproduce the picture they have drawn on paper without seeing the picture itself. Because the participants have to give different explanations, it helps them to develop and improve their expression as well as communication skills.

The exercise ends when the other party of the pair has received a copy of the drawing on their own paper.

One of the goals of confidence building exercises is to share emotions

Once children, adolescents, or adults have completed these five confidence-building exercises, they should evaluate what they felt, what they liked most, and what they did not like so much when doing the exercises. This allows for the expression and control of emotions.

The facilitator asks participants to form a ring and share their own experiences of the exercises. It is important to put the exercises into context, and it is important for everyone to become aware of the importance of trust and good interpersonal relationships in the group.

This helps to create an atmosphere where everyone feels safe to share their own experiences. In addition, it strengthens respect between people.