Small Moments Build Confidence: How Repeated Low-Stakes Experiences Help Girls Thrive

Confidence is a muscle that gets its enduring power from small, consistent experiences. That’s why, off the back of co-founder Elle Wilks’ recent recording for the Child Psych Podcast (to be released early 2026), micro-moments were a hot topic in her advice to parents: simple, repeatable experiences that help girls feel capable, seen and supported and enable girls to build and maintain the mastery of a confident mindset.

Research shows girls’ confidence drops sharply around age 10. Between 8 and 12, girls’ bodies, brains and social worlds change rapidly. Puberty often begins earlier in girls than boys, increasing self-focus and body awareness. Peer influence, social comparison and cultural pressures (“be nice,” “look perfect,” “fit in”) intensify self-doubt. Girls also internalise anxiety more than boys, noticing and absorbing pressures earlier, which aligns with findings from developmental psychology showing girls’ heightened sensitivity to evaluation and social feedback at this age.

The stakes are high, but the solution is clear: girls need spaces where they can build the belief that they deserve to be seen and heard by:

• Practising taking up space and taking risks

• Making mistakes safely and learning from them

• Benefiting from peer support and adult modelling

• Building belief through small, scaffolded experiences

  
  

At Fearless Girls Club, we see this as a crucial window of opportunity. Our after-school clubs and subscription boxes for girls, endorsed by educational psychologists and rated 5 stars by parents, offer these small repeated experiences that help girls practise bravery, make bold choices and learn from mistakes before self-doubt takes hold. 

Central to our approach is the concept of low-stakes trial-and-fail. Neuroscience and learning theory show that children develop resilience and self-efficacy when they safely experience failure, reflect on it and try again. By making mistakes in a supported environment – through a challenging puzzle, a creative task or a Club Quest activity – girls learn that setbacks are not threats but opportunities to develop problem-solving, persistence and self-trust. Over time, these micro-experiences solidify into enduring confidence.

Through our award winning Club Quests in both our after-school clubs and our subscription boxes, girls experience small adventures that build social, emotional and creative capital. Parents see the difference – girls become more willing to speak up, try new tasks and feel proud of themselves.

We know that small consistent moments of mastery translate into internalised beliefs about capability and potential that shape how a girl sees herself, and help her carry that confidence forward into bigger challenges in the future: they act like stepping stones for girls to build lasting confidence and love being unapologetically themselves.