It's a child's nature to play, but in real life, girls' self-confidence tends to decrease with age.
How is the development of children's creative confidence around the world, and what are the factors that affect girls' creative confidence, LEGO recently released the results of a global survey.
LEGO Global Survey Results Where does girls' confidence and stress come from?
Between December 2023 and January 2024, the LEGO Group conducted a 40-minute online quantitative survey in 36 countries and regions, with a total of 61,532 respondents, including 36,000 parents of children aged 1-12 and 25,532 children aged 5-12. The first 30 minutes of the survey were answered by parents, and the remaining 10 minutes were answered by children whose parents agreed to participate.
The results of the survey show that 76% of five-year-old girls are confident in their creativity. Not only do they have a wide range of interests, but they also have a strong track record in sports, design, engineering and science, and they are looking forward to working in related fields.
But this confidence in creativity only lasted until the age of five. From the beginning of being integrated, the creative confidence of girls from the age of five decreases with age, 71% of girls are afraid to share ideas, and even 71% of parents feel the impact of these pressures, making girls more reluctant to express their opinions.
Girls' reluctance to express their opinions stems from the fact that girls are under more pressure to be perfect than boys, with 88% of Chinese children saying they need to be perfect, compared to 73% globally, and the rhetoric of parents around the world inadvertently exacerbates this pressure. 71% of girls feel anxious about negative comments about making mistakes, which makes them more reluctant to try, reinforcing the pursuit of perfect results. Fifty-six per cent of children believe that parents are more willing to listen to boys' ideas. In China, the proportion is 81 percent.
Jennifer Wallace, a Harvard graduate parenting expert and best-selling author, said: "Creative assertiveness is a form of self-affirmation that drives new ideas and is able to face risks and challenges without fear of failure, resulting in unique solutions. ”
Unleash your potential and don't have to be perfect
LEGO has released a short film called "More than Perfect", encouraging girls to be creative and play freely in the building process, without fear of other people's eyes, not afraid of making mistakes, and confidently building imaginative creations. At the same time, it also allows parents and children to pay attention to their daily words, encourage their children more, and create more with their children.
Every mistake is a learning opportunity, and the co-creation of parents and children will stimulate children's courage and imagination, so that children are willing to be afraid to try new things, not afraid to make mistakes, praise girls more, and will stimulate girls' creativity.
Ms. Jane Lili, the founder of Simple Psychology Platform, suggested that parents of girls should start to change their daily language to improve their creative self-confidence
"Social, family and school evaluations all play an important role in building girls' self-awareness, cultivating self-confidence, and stimulating creativity as they grow up. As a group that gets along with girls day and night in life, parents and caregivers should make changes in their daily lives, consciously adjust the way they communicate with them, give girls more space to explore, and let girls have a stage to release their creativity. ”
Don't ignore the power of play, be brave and experimental, and inspire confidence
Entertaining has always been the best aid to learning, and it is important to have fun to gain knowledge of the world and master skills in play.
Through play, children can express their authentic selves and build self-confidence while having fun and sharing. More than 80% of parents believe that play is good for girls to build self-confidence, especially with Lego.
In the process of building, rebuilding and disassembling LEGO bricks freely, the girls are not afraid to fail, let their imaginations run wild, and explore all the possibilities.
Ms. Weiwei Hou, LEGO Certified Master Builder, said: "Children can have fun and experiment, which is essential to enhance their creativity. Play not only helps children express themselves better, but also provides a space for them to explore without fear of failure. ”
Ms. Hou Weiwei, a LEGO Certified Master Builder, pointed out that play is an effective way to improve girls' creative confidence
Celebrate girls' self-confidence and creativity Top 10 steps to boost your creative confidence
Ms. Shen Minglan, Vice President of Marketing for the LEGO Group China, said that the LEGO Group applauds the girls' confidence and creativity
In 2023, the LEGO Group launched a new brand project, "Play Unstoppable", which aims to showcase the diverse creativity of girls and encourage them to explore and experiment without limiting themselves. This year, the project focused more on the creativity and self-confidence of the girls.
In addition to the release of the 2024 LEGO Play Report, the LEGO Group has teamed up with Harvard-educated parenting expert and best-selling author Jennifer Wallace to develop a guide for parents, caregivers and adults to help them learn how to develop children's creativity and confidence. It includes 10 steps to "strive for progress rather than perfection, celebrate setbacks, use language wisely, develop a tolerance for setbacks, build a growth mindset, and reduce stress: praise the process, unleash the superpowers of play, value the power of role models, step out of your comfort zone, and reap the rewards."
The LEGO Group unveils '10 steps to boost your creative confidence'
Ms. Shen Minglan, Vice President of Marketing for the LEGO Group China, said: "It is the mission of the LEGO Group to inspire and nurture the builders of tomorrow through creative play. For more than 90 years, we have been working tirelessly to achieve this. Boys and girls alike, we want to help them learn and develop skills through play, unleash their potential, and better prepare for the future and make the world a better place. ”