5 easy techniques to teach your kids to love and appreciate their natural hair

Everyone loves that cute coily hair on babies but if you’re a mother, I’m sure you must know that caring for that hair as they grow older can be challenging. Especially when they get to that adolescent age where they are struggling with acceptance amongst their peers and   finding their identity. 

In some regions, a child with coily hair might sometimes even face bullying and teasing from peers as it may be considered “different.” The most annoying part is that the mainstream media is full of misrepresentation on what beauty standards are  and this is what kids are exposed to on a daily basis! This fuels the urge to want to change their natural hair by trying to straighten, perm or even the infamous “texturizing” !!!

It is important that children have the confidence to rock their hair and with a sense of pride so that they are as beautiful as ever with their naturally coily hair!

It is also very important that you teach them to love their hair with all its hassles as it will teach them to not only appreciate their hair but also not to change themselves to fit into another person’s standard and have an identity of theirs and a sense of belonging later in the future.

So how do you teach your young ones to love and appreciate their natural hair?

Let your children experiment and find what works for them

The best way to make someone appreciate something is to let them experiment and discover what works! Let your children from an early age, be in charge of their hair, involve your girls and boys in wash day [link to washday] so they learn early how to take care of their hair, educate them on their natural hair and let them try out different products [link to mummy & me bundle] to know what they like and what works for them. Let them try our different styles and see what works for them.

You can even take the experiment further and let that child try out having a permed or straightened hair so that they’re able to experience firsthand why they should appreciate their natural state of mane!

Help them appreciate their unique beauty without conforming to “standards”

The world we live in has different factions that push the narrative of a particular standard of beauty that a lot of people do not fit into as it is not even realistic.

Let your little ones decide on their beauty standard and see that they are unique in their own coily way and like I always say to my children, “You were made perfectly and why would you want to change that?”

Let them see themselves as perfectly made!

Always use positive words when talking about their natural hair

Your kids may face a lot of resistance & negativity concerning their coily or kinky hair at schools and other places but NOT FROM YOU! 

Even on bad days, like when their hair gets frizzy or the style just doesn’t feel right, let them know, while using positive words that “Hey, bad days happen to everyone!” and that they are beautiful, bad days or not. 

Practice what you preach

The best way to make your kids imitate you is to be an example! When your kids see you proudly rock and take care of your crown they would definitely want to do the same so they can “have pretty hair like mommy!” 

Show your kids that you are proud of your hair, try out different styles and be excited about your own hair and watch the excitement rub off on your children. Remember, children listen and respond to everything that you do so always stay positive! 

Give them literature and objects to represent her own beauty standard!

Let your kids read books about their hair and how they should appreciate it, have mentors and models - maybe the entertainment industry - that proudly rock their natural hair and show it to them. We stan Lupita Nyong’o, Viola Davis, Yara Shahidi and other natural hair queens!

When you see toys with coily hair, buy for your girls, show your boys older men that proudly rock their natural hair and different styles so they can appreciate their unique beauty. When kids see their kind of beauty reflected somewhere other than their primary environment, they are more likely to be more appreciative of their own beauty.

Teaching kids to appreciate their beauty, natural hair and all, at a young age is necessary and beneficial in the development of a whole person as an individual. You have to be intentional, make compliments on your child’s hair to bring out their smile. Be in love with your natural hair so that your kids will emulate you!