Describing adjectives for kids
A Giant List of Adjectives to Describe Kids
ByLauren @ Simply-Well-Balanced
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Words are powerful. This is especially true when you consider the words that you choose to describe your child – or children you work with. Today we are sharing a huge list of adjectives about kids to increase self-confidence and esteem in children.
Adjectives About Kids: Using the Power of Words to Increase Confidence
What's Inside:
As a teacher and parent, I know first hand how true that quote is.
I have seen behaviors, attitudes and self-esteem completely transformed in my classroom just by carefully choosing words to describe kids in a positive light.
You see, if a child repeatedly hears someone describe them using positive words, eventually they start to believe what they are hearing.
Because I have seen how powerful words can be, I have become more intentional with the words I use to describe the behavior, actions and personalities of my own children – and I encourage you to do the same.
Adjectives are describing words and you can pretty much guarantee that the words kids grow up hearing are the same words they will end up using to describe themselves as adults.
How to Use Adjectives to Describe Kids
Adjectives about kids can be used in a variety of ways:
- As a parent trying to improve the self-esteem of your own child.
- As a teacher looking for descriptions to include in report cards or progress reports.
- As a coach or counselor trying to find words to describe the positive personality traits you see in the kids you’re working with.
No matter why you are looking for adjectives to describe children, it’s helpful to understand why being as specific as possible is very important.
Oftentimes we get in the habit of using the same generic phrases like “cute” or “smart” on repeat.
When children hear these same terms repeated over and over they actually become meaningless.
Here are some tips on using adjectives to describe kids:
- Use phrases that are as unique and individualized as possible.
- Avoid focusing on appearance for compliments. You don’t want a child’s self-worth to be connected to the way they look.
- Consider characteristics that set them apart from others.
- Try to rephrase challenging aspects of their personality in a positive way that highlights how they can use them as strengths (ie instead of stubborn, describe them as determined).
- Use these words and phrases in everyday conversation so they frequently hear themselves being described using positive words.
- Write the words on post-it notes and leave them for your child to find in their room, on the bathroom mirror or inside their favorite book.
- Utilize them as part of a daily affirmation routine.
- Be genuine – kids can tell when you’re not being authentic. Be sure that the words you use accurately describe your child and how you feel about them – even if it’s just some of the time.
- Have your child (or students) choose words from this list of adjectives for describing kids to make a poster or collage about themselves.
When used consistently these words will become a natural part of your daily routine and your child will become accustomed to hearing themselves in a positive light every day.
Now let’s get on to the list!
150 Positive Adjectives About Kids
Adjectives to Describe a Child’s Strengths
- Determined
- Motivated
- Positive
- Trustworthy
- Artistic
- Brave
- Creative
- Diligent
- Friendly
- Forgiving
- Imaginative
- Inventive
- Motivated
- Observant
- Persistent
- Reliable
- Resourceful
- Understanding
- Unique
- Hard-working
- Involved
- Self-starting
- Flexible
- Organized
- Structured
- Efficient
- Adaptable
- Articulate
- Clever
- Persistent
- Leader
- Self-reliant
- Detail oriented
- Tough
- Open-minded
- Industrious
- Tenacious
- Communicative
- Talented
- Skilled
- Willing to try
- Knowledgeable
- Confident
- Ambitious
- Authentic
- Original
- Enterprising
- Fierce
- Gifted
- Believable
- Meticulous
Adjectives to Describe a Kid’s Personality
- Compassionate
- Loyal
- Adventurous
- Charming
- Faithful
- Cautious
- Polite
- Magnetic
- Dynamic
- Nurturing
- Cheerful
- Practical
- Selective
- Enchanting
- Selective
- Logical
- Endearing
- Understanding
- Entertaining
- Sensitive
- Aware
- Tolerant
- Spontaneous
- Charismatic
- Attentive
- Opinionated
- Courageous
- Approachable
- Affectionate
- Easy-going
- Accepting
- Effervescent
- Funny
- Honest
- Reflective
- Hopeful
- Methodical
- Inquisitive
- Talkative
- Devoted
- Steadfast
- Patient
- Contemplative
- Insightful
- Joyful
- Loving
- Optimistic
- Passionate
- Mindful
- Aware
- Calm
- Resilient
- Self-Confident
- Witty
- Independent
- Hilarious
- Philosophical
- Logical
- Realistic
- Unconventional
- Delightful
- Modest
Words to Describe A Child’s Behavior
- Consistent
- Responsible
- Kind
- Daring
- Considerate
- Energetic
- Fearless
- Generous
- Gentle
- Courteous
- Helpful
- Playful
- Fiery
- Social
- Spirited
- Zestful
- Thoughtful
- Confident
- Cooperative
- Spunky
- Reserved
- Exuberant
- Expressive
- Supportive
- Animated
- Focused
- Expressive
- Eager
- Intense
- Assertive
- Respectful
- Bold
- Gutsy
Conclusion
Overtime, your child will begin to integrate the words they hear you use to describe them into their own sense of self worth.
Those words and phrases will become a part of their identity and form a foundation of self-confidence and strength.
Lauren @ Simply-Well-Balanced
Hi, I'm Lauren Tingley; a working, teacher-mom of two who tried to "do it all" and ended up losing myself in the process. Determined to find joy in modern motherhood I discovered simplifying was the answer. Now I share tips for fun family activities, minimalist homemaking and simple parenting advice on Simply Well Balanced for families looking to create more balance in their homes. My ideas and advice has been shared by Parents Magazine, Good Housekeeping and Women's First.Read more about me! Or follow me on Pinterest or Instagram
100+ Positive Adjectives to Describe a Child - With Free Printable Poster!
Today I’m sharing a list of 100+ positive adjectives to describe a child with a free printable poster of positive adjectives. I hope you enjoy and find it helpful!
You won’t find phrases like “well behaved” or adjectives like cute, handsome, or intelligent in this list.
They’re all unique, positive ways to describe a child’s personality. The free printable poster has a cheerful rainbow background and is perfect for classrooms or home use.
Have you ever noticed that the qualities we claim to value in adults are the same things we try to discourage in children?
We praise children for being quiet, coloring inside the lines, and standing still. Then we say we value innovation, determination, and authenticity.
We also tend to praise children’s appearance constantly but don’t really mention their personalities and actions in positive ways. This list of positive adjectives to call a child will help you change that!
This post may include affiliate links, which means I may make a commission on purchases made through these links at no additional cost to you.
Table of Contents
How to describe a child
Hearing the words people use to describe my child has made me very aware of the adjectives I use to describe her.
Their descriptions have made me really stop and think about the messages our word choices unintentionally send our children.
Frequently we use kind of milk-toast adjectives like “great,” focus on physical characteristics (“cute” or “pretty”), or praise a child for being so “smart.”
There are a couple problems with always praising a child’s appearance or constantly calling them “good” or “smart.”
For one, girls are already bombarded with messages from society that their appearance matters, maybe more than anything else about them.
Although no one means harm when they tell their daughter how cute she is or that she has a nice outfit, it helps reinforce the idea that how they look is more important then who they are. This can cause a lot of problems and confidence issues down the line!
Virtually everyone who talks to us when we’re out tells us how pretty, beautiful, or cute our LG is. They tell us how my husband is going to jealously guard her from would-be boyfriends.
Muñeca (doll) and princesa are favorite adjectives from our Miami family.
A few people do comment on how observant she is, but typically only after they’ve called her cute half a dozen times.
Related read: Printable gratitude journal for kids
I know it’s super hard not to call your little one cute all the time. I’ve tried since day 1 to say other things to LG, but “cute” still slips out frequently because she is cute! But I consciously try to mention her other attributes, like her strength and determination, whenever possible.
Constantly praising a child’s intelligence can also backfire. Although it’s obviously fine to mention their smarts in moderation, a child may become afraid of doing anything that might make them look “stupid” if they’ve tied their identity to being “smart.”
This kind of thinking can lead “talented” students to take less challenging classes and tasks because they’ve tied their identity to being a “good student” and are afraid of making less than straight A’s (If you’re a new reader – I have a Masters in Teaching and this is a topic we studied in developmental psychology and educational theory classes.
It’s fascinating stuff!)
It’s also really important to read the research on how praise can backfire in the long run. Read Conditional Parenting – it’s a game changer.
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Unconditional Parenting: Moving from Rewards and Punishments to Love and...
- Raising Kids
- Kohn, Alfie (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
By using more diverse adjectives to describe your child and mentioning their personality traits more than their appearance, you can help your child develop a more healthy and wholistic self-image and greater confidence!
How to use this list of positive adjectives
These adjectives are great for introducing new words to your child. Some of them are more advanced than others, which makes them the perfect way to introduce new words.
They’re also useful for expanding your own repertoire of complements and descriptions.
Additionally, you can use these adjectives if your child has a school assignment to come up with a list of words to describe themselves.
Challenge your children to describe themselves and others in new, different ways each day of the week! See if you can all go an entire week without simply describing someone as nice, pretty, or great.
Make sure to grab the free printable poster (at the bottom of the post) with all 100+ positive adjectives so you can post it in your home or classroom for reference!
Pin this list of positive adjectives now so you don’t lose track of the post!
100+ positive adjectives to describe a child
- Adaptable
- Adventurous
- Affectionate
- Alert
- Ambitious
- Amiable
- Astute
- Attentive
- Authentic
- Aware
- Awesome
- Bold
- Brave
- Calm
- Capable
- Caring
- Compassionate
- Confident
- Considerate
- Consistant
- Courageous
- Courteous
- Curious
- Decisive
- Dependable
- Determined
- Dexterous
- Diligent
- Diplomatic
- Dynamic
- Earnest
- Encouraging
- Energetic
- Engaging
- Enthusiastic
- Fair
- Fearless
- Flexible
- Focused
- Forgiving
- Forthright
- Free-spirited
- Friendly
- Fun
- Fun-loving
- Generous
- Gentle
- Genuine
- Giving
- Graceful
- Gracious
- Happy
- Hardworking
- Honest
- Hopeful
- Humble
- Humorous
- Idealistic
- Imaginative
- Innovative
- Insightful
- Intuitive
- Inventive
- Joyful
- Just
- Kind
- Lively
- Loving
- Loyal
- Merry
- Motivated
- Motivational
- Nurturing
- Observant
- Open
- Open-hearted
- Open-minded
- Optimistic
- Organized
- Outgoing
- Patient
- Persistent
- Playful
- Positive
- Precise
- Punctual
- Purposeful
- Quick-witted
- Radiant
- Realistic
- Reflective
- Reliable
- Resourceful
- Sincere
- Sociable
- Social
- Strong
- Sympathetic
- Trusting
- Trustworthy
- Upbeat
- Vivacious
- Warm
- Welcoming
- Wise
- Zany
Free printable poster of positive adjectives
Here’s a preview of the printable poster of positive adjectives! (The image is just a low-res preview, not the printable PDF)
If you’d like to reference this list of positive adjectives to describe a child, make sure to grab the free printable!
Download your printable poster of 100 positive adjectives here
This poster of positive adjectives matches a set of the growth mindset poster printables I shared recently.
Make sure to stop by and grab your free printable growth mindset posters, too.
More positive parenting resources
You can’t pour from an empty cup. These free self-care ideas for moms can help you be the positive parent you want to be! There are also some free printable affirmation cards to help you out.
Do you want to encourage your toddler’s desire to practice gross motor skills? These indoor gross motor toys for toddlers are the best!
Do you have any additional positive adjectives you’d like to see added to the list?
Children's Descriptive Adjective List
Children's Descriptive Adjective List can help students understand this part of speech and improve their writing. Describing words for children should focus on adjectives that children have heard or words that are easy for them to pronounce and spell.
What are descriptive adjectives and words?
Words that describe people, places, and things, or nouns, are called adjectives.
You can remember this by thinking, "the adjective adds something."
- A descriptive adjective is one of the three main types of adjectives.
- Descriptive adjectives or descriptive words give detailed information about a subject.
- Descriptive adjectives can help you understand what something looks like, how many it is, what size it is, or what it's made of.
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Examples of descriptive adjectives for children
Having an extensive list of descriptive adjectives handy can help children improve their vocabulary. You can look at the list of adjectives to see how some describe the words and how others tell you different details about the noun.
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Appearance adjectives
If you need an adjective to describe a child or adult, you can use words that describe their appearance, size, or age in detail.
Whenever possible, try to use positive words that describe the person.
Adjectives to describe emotions and feelings
Children have a lot of emotions and they often have very big feelings. Different emotion words can help you express exactly how you feel.
| Angry | Bored | Content | capricious |
| Enjoyed | upset | exhausted |
It can have a profound impact on his future, affecting everything from his school performance to relationships. As a parent, you have a huge role to play in helping your child build a healthy sense of self-worth. 
Teach them to see failure as an opportunity to learn and grow. 
They can be either verbal or non-verbal - the language of facial expressions and gestures. These messages can be both negative and positive. Whether we realize it or not, we are constantly exchanging such messages with all people, conveying to them, out loud or using sign language, what we think of them and how we feel about them. 
An expression of unconditional love and acceptance. “I love you, I’m happy that I have you, you are a wonderful child, we have been waiting for you for so long, I understand you,” etc. 
