Our 10 Favourite TED Talks For Parents

When you’re raising girls aged 8 to 12, it can feel like the world changes every five minutes. Confidence wobbles appear out of nowhere, friendships become more complicated, big feelings get bigger.

We love these TED Talks because they take huge ideas about childhood, confidence and wellbeing and make them practical, hopeful and easy to understand. These are some of our favourites for parents of tweens – thoughtful, evidence-informed and genuinely useful.

1. Kathryn Hecht: How to Raise Kids Who Can Handle Hard Things

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Kathryn Hecht explores how avoiding discomfort can accidentally make children more anxious and less resilient. It’s thoughtful, practical and particularly useful for parents navigating school worries, perfectionism or anxiety. One of the strongest newer TED talks on resilience.

2. Sarah-Jayne Blakemore: The Mysterious Workings of the Adolescent Brain

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Sarah-Jayne Blakemore explains what is actually happening in the tween and teen brain. Brilliant for understanding emotional intensity, social sensitivity and risk-taking. Very grounded in science, but easy to follow.

3. Susan David: The Gift and Power of Emotional Courage

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Susan David talks about emotional agility – the idea that healthy people are not happy all the time, but able to move through emotions without becoming trapped by them. Hugely helpful for parents raising sensitive or anxious girls.

4. Julie Lythcott-Haims: How to Raise Successful Kids – Without Over-Parenting

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Julie Lythcott-Haims talks about the dangers of over-managing children’s lives and why independence matters so much for wellbeing. This one really speaks to modern parenting pressure. It’s a good reminder that resilience grows when children are trusted to solve problems, take responsibility and recover from mistakes.

5. Becky Kennedy: The Single Most Important Parenting Strategy

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Becky Kennedy has become popular recently for good reason and we love her! Her approach is calm, emotionally intelligent and refreshingly non-shaming. This talk focuses on repair – the idea that good parenting is not perfection, but reconnecting after difficult moments.

6. Angela Lee Duckworth: Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance

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Angela Lee Duckworth explores why persistence matters more than raw talent. Especially valuable for girls who fear failure or give up quickly when things stop feeling easy. Still one of the best talks on resilience and long-term confidence.

7. Carol Dweck: The Power of Believing You Can Improve

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This is the classic growth mindset talk, but it still earns its place on the list for us. Carol Dweck explains how children who believe abilities can grow through effort are more resilient when things get difficult. One idea we love and talk about a lot is the power of the word ‘yet’. Instead of “I can’t do this”, it becomes “I can’t do this yet”. Especially useful for girls who are perfectionists, hard on themselves or frightened of getting things wrong.

8. Laurie Santos: The Science of Happiness

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Laurie Santos explores what decades of psychology research actually says about happiness and why humans are surprisingly bad at predicting what will make us feel fulfilled. This is a brilliant watch for parents raising girls in a world that constantly pushes achievement, appearance and comparison. Laurie explains that things like social connection, sleep, gratitude, kindness and meaningful experiences have a far greater impact on wellbeing than status or perfection. What makes this talk especially valuable is how practical it feels. Rather than vague positivity, it focuses on small habits and mindset shifts that genuinely improve emotional wellbeing over time.

9. Brené Brown: Listening to Shame

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Less famous than her vulnerability talk, but arguably more useful for parents. Brené Brown explains how shame shapes behaviour and why empathy matters so much in relationships and parenting. Particularly powerful for parents of girls entering the comparison-heavy tween years.

10. Martin Seligman: The New Era of Positive Psychology

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Martin Seligman is one of the big players who helped shape modern wellbeing science. His work focuses on flourishing, optimism, resilience and what genuinely contributes to happiness. This talk is older, but still fascinating if you enjoy the research side of wellbeing.