World Children’s Day 2024

Today is World Children’s Day which focuses on giving children a voice and making sure every child is included.

Allowing children to have a voice is a basic right given by United Nations and it highlights the importance of giving children a voice.

Giving children a voice promotes self esteem and self worth. By giving children a voice through choice, opinion, feelings and emotions children can develop and learn that they are important and valued. Feeling valued plays a large role in how a child learns.

Kimberley, 2015

We work to give as many children and young people as possible the chance to find their voice and make sure they are confident and able to enjoy life’s opportunities. We do this through our Flourishing Family mentoring and Spelthorne Family Centres, but also through our Skills to Thrive programmes and Nurture through Nature activities.

Visit here to find out more.

You can help your child to find their voice by:

• Focus on children’s interests – let them express the things that interests them or something they are proud
• Be an active listener – listen to what they’re sharing with you and be positive. Be careful about the questions you ask and really tune into the child’s voice
• Decision making – allow children to have a voice when it comes to making decisions. It may be about simple things such as which story they would like or what to have for snack that day
• Embrace dislikes – do not tell a child they are wrong for having a dislike however promote a positive attitude towards such things. For example, it is okay to not like playing outdoors however it is good for us to get exercise to stay healthy