Do you remember a moment where someone’s encouragement made a world of difference? Sometimes hearing three simple words like “You got this!” can be powerful. And everyone can benefit from encouragement, no matter their age.
When a child receives encouragement from an educator it builds trust, boosts confidence, and strengthens the relationship between them. These moments create a supportive learning environment where students feel seen, valued, motivated. It’s amazing how someone’s words can leave such a lasting impact.
The US-based National Center on Quality Teaching and Learning created this list of 50 Things You Can Say To Encourage A Child to remind us that encouragement is easy and necessary to foster connection between educators and their students. They might even look back one day and remember the words you spoke and how much that meant to them.
We encourage you to do two things with this list:
- Print it out and share it with the teachers in your community.
- Reflect on how you like to encourage your learners and share it with us. We’ll update this article again in the future to include voices like yours.
50 Things You Can Say To Encourage A Child
- Thumbs up.
- You’re on the right track now.
- You’ve worked so hard on that.
- I heard you say how you feel. That’s great,
- Oh, that turned out very well.
- That’s coming along nicely.
- I’m proud of the way you worked today.
- You’ve just about got it.
- That’s the best you’ve ever done.
- You stayed so calm during that problem.
- That’s it!
- Now you’ve figured it out!
- That’s quite an improvement.
- I knew you could do it.
- Congratulations.
- I love hearing your words.
- What a superstar you are.
- You’ve solved the problem.
- Keep working on it, you’re almost there!
- Now you have it.
- Your brain must be working hard, you figured that out quickly.
- I bet you’re proud of yourself.
- One more time and you’ll have it.
- Great idea!
- You’re amazing!
- Terrific teamwork!
- Nothing can stop you now.
- You have such creative ideas.
- That’s the way to do it.
- Sensational!
- You must have been practicing.
- You handled that so well.
- I like how you think.
- Good remembering.
- You know just what to do!
- You really are persisting with this.
- You expressed yourself so well.
- You did it!
- I knew you two could figure it out together.
- Excellent job saying how you feel.
- I know it’s hard, but you’re almost there.
- Fantastic problem-solving!
- I love hearing your ideas.
- I know that was hard for you, but you stayed so calm.
- Yes!
- Look at how you help each other.
- You finished faster because you worked together.
- You kept trying!
- Excellent try!
- You are a creative thinker.
Downloadable version (Right Click, Save As): 50 Things You Can Say To Encourage A Child
