While losing a game usually doesn’t cause strong negative emotions in an adult, finishing last in a game is something akin to a tragedy for a child.
To help your child cope with losing, use the following tips.
1. Before your child becomes a participant in any competition, tell him that in a game or sport there are both winners and losers.
Invite your little one to think about what emotions a person experiences when they find themselves in a particular situation, what they feel in their body, what they might think about. Explain what they can do after losing – play a new game and, perhaps, win it.
Knowing that losing is possible can help make it less frustrating.
2. Tell us about yourself – remember how you were a child and how you felt about the situation when you were not among the winners.
3. Praise children not for the result they achieved, but for the efforts they made.
Emphasize how well the child, for example, ran compared to the previous time, how much fun he had playing, how easy the rules were.
4. Talk about what caused the loss and what could have been done better, then return to the previous point and praise the effort again.
5. Set an example for your son or daughter - let your children see how you deal with disappointment, congratulate winners, and hold your head high despite defeat.
