We teach boldness by trying new things.

All of us sometimes avoid new things and new situations. We prefer to feel comfortable and confident in whatever we’re doing. But life doesn’t allow us that luxury! Yes, it can be scary to try new things, but it’s also one of the best ways to develop boldness. After all, it really is a great feeling to work hard at a new skill or to learn new information. The process leading up to it may be difficult, but the result is worth it.

We must allow our children to fail (and to start over again).

This one, I must admit, is super hard for me. I don’t want my children to fail. If I always protect them from failure, though, or at least try to minimize the consequences, how will they learn from their mistakes? What if my “protection” makes them want to give up because they have the idea that success means always getting it right?

Do you remember the 2007 movie Meet the Robinsons? (If not, you and your children really should watch it!) There’s a scene in which the main character, Lewis, reveals a new invention to his friend’s family. It goes completely wrong, and Lewis feels like a failure. To his great surprise, the family has a huge celebration! They share some of their failures and tell how those failures contributed to future successes. It’s a super cute scene that emphasizes the importance of being bold and not being afraid to make mistakes. To watch this clip from the movie, go here.

Our children need to know that boldness comes from following God’s will in our lives.

Sometimes it’s hard to feel bold and have confidence. Sometimes we try to do things our own way and in our own strength, and it doesn’t turn out well. Sometimes we fail to read the Bible, pray, and seek God’s will for our lives.

If we want our children to be bold and confident, though, we must teach them to follow God’s will for their lives! In fact, that’s the single most important thing we can do for our children as homeschooling parents.

Remember when David faced Goliath? David was just a kid, but he was bold and courageous because he knew from experience that God would protect him. He knew that if he was doing what God wanted him to do, God would give him victory. And because of David’s faith and action, God did just that.

Remember when Esther persuaded King Xerxes to ruin Haman’s plans to annihilate the Jews in their country? Yes, she was afraid, but she acted anyway. She prayed, fasted, and trusted God, and God blessed her. The Jewish people stood up against attacks and were not destroyed because of the faith and action of Esther.

Our children need to know that they should seek God’s will above everything else. If they’re doing what God has called them to do—no matter what it is—they can be bold in doing whatever that is. Deuteronomy 31:6 says, “Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”

How about some practical ways to teach boldness every day in your homeschool?

I already mentioned that one of my favorite ways to teach my children to have confidence and boldness was by doing new things. Science experiments are perfect for this! Whether you do an experiment every day or every week, each one is different, giving you a new opportunity to work, succeed, or fail; figure out why you succeeded or failed; determine what you learned; and carry on using the new knowledge you developed.

You’ll also find it gives you the perfect opportunity to weave in other life lessons, such as parallels to our spiritual growth. I’m sharing an experiment your family can do together that will show you how to weave in a spiritual lesson as well. It only requires a few simple supplies you probably already have around your house.

Next, fill the balloon with a small amount of water. You don’t need a lot of water—just enough to make the balloon a little larger than the opening of your bottle. If you overfill your balloon, the experiment won’t work well. If you don’t fill it full enough, it won’t work correctly either. Just as you know the balloon needs enough water to make it slightly larger than the bottle’s opening, God knows how to fill our lives with exactly what we need for Him to prepare us for the jobs He wants us to do as adults. He knows when we need to succeed, when we need to fail, and what lessons we need to learn. We have to trust Him to fill us with exactly what we need each day.

Finally, light the strip of paper on fire, drop it into the bottle, and quickly set the water balloon on top of the jar. The bottom half of the water balloon will literally be sucked into the jar! You’ll see it bulge downward into the jar as you watch. This illustrates the fact that, to reach our goal, we must do things God’s way. Once we are obedient to Him and follow His instructions, we’ll get the outcome He wants for us.

There’s one more lesson (and some physics!) you can learn from this experiment. If your children want to perform this experiment again, they must first get the balloon, which is now stuck in the mouth of the bottle, out of the bottle without popping it! But how can they do that? With the straw! Have them gently ease the straw into the mouth of the bottle to break the seal, and the balloon will easily come out.

The physics. This experiment works because the warmer air inside the bottle takes up more space than the cool air. Once you place the water balloon on top of the jar, the fire goes out due to lack of oxygen, so the air inside the bottle cools and takes up less room. That makes more space available inside the bottle, causing the pressure from outside to push the balloon into the bottle.

Here is the biblical truth. The balloon represents you and me. The fire and pressure on the inside of the bottle are like the pressure and temptation we feel each day to do things the way we want to do them. But God always provides us with a straw—which represents the way He knows we need to live and what we need to do to reach our goal of being bold and living for Him. When we follow His instructions and use the tools He gives us, we will be able to boldly accomplish the goals He has for us!