Wellbeing

Building Resilience

Resilience is a hugely important skill for developing in our children. It is a lifelong skill that will allow them to confidently move forward through life.

For kids, resilience means…

• Being able to "bounce back" or adapt to challenges and tough times, learn from them, and keep thriving. 
• Having the strength to handle difficulties and not giving up.

Some of the things you can do to encourage and support the development of resilience in your child.

• Don’t underestimate the power of you telling them you believe in them and you KNOW they can do hard things.
• Encourage a growth mindset 
  • I can’t do it……YET!

Discuss the idea of Big Problems and Little Problems when emotions get big.

For older (bigger) kids, the idea of a catastrophe scale can support their ability to react appropriately to problems.

The 5 Ps

The concept of the 5 Ps can support conversations about resilience and how to move forward with a problem.

1: Perspective – how else can I see this situation?

Seeing the bigger picture and learning with our imagination. Try asking yourself, “How would I respond to this problem if I were a character in my tv show.”

2: Positive – what good came out of this bad situation?

Positive thinking means focusing on happy thoughts and finding the little piece of good that happened.

3: Problem Solve – is there anything I could do to get back on track?

You can try problem-solving to make things better and chat about what you could do differently.

4: Persevere – how did I keep going (even when things were bad?)

Building problem-solving skills. So next time, they can be confident in themselves and know that things will get better!

5: Purpose – have I changed for the better?

Find meaning in the thing they are doing and making; why is it important?