Building Resilience in Children

• Resilience is the ability to quickly recover from difficulties.
• It provides inner strength for maintaining a positive attitude during tough times.

Importance of Resilience for Children

• Helps with self-awareness by building confidence, leading to feeling better about oneself.
• Promotes independence, allowing children to solve problems on their own. For example, a child might independently fix a broken toy instead of getting upset.
• Supports self-management by enabling better stress management.
• Helps in dealing with challenges with less emotional burden.
• Develops problem-solving skills through the process of resilience.
• Promotes emotional well-being, making it easier to understand and manage feelings.

Social Benefits of Resilience

• Aids adaptation to change, like starting at a new school - makes new friends or helps dealing with family changes.
• Builds strong relationships by encouraging supportiveness.

Resilience Supports Responsible Decision-Making

• Promotes perseverance, encouraging continuation when things get tough.
• Prepares one for the future by promoting confidence and adaptability.
• For example, a child deals with an unexpected change in plans, like a cancelled playdate, by finding another fun activity.

Without Resilience

• Children may face difficulty overcoming challenges.
• They can be easily discouraged when facing problems.
• There is an increased risk of mental health issues like depression and anxiety later in life.
• Increased stress and anxiety may occur.
• Management of one's emotions could be a struggle
• Physical health problems can be a factor.
• Low self-esteem can develop, causing a negative self-image and the belief that success is impossible.
• Negative coping mechanisms may develop - like temper tantrums, and avoiding other people.
• Relationship difficulties may arise, challenges maintaining relationships with others.

Ways to Practice Resilience

• Practice relaxation techniques.
• Engage in creative and physical activities.
• Develop problem-solving skills via puzzles, brain teasers, and challenges.
• For example, when a puzzle is difficult, keep trying different pieces and strategies!
• Accepting sadness and frustration helps manage feelings.
• Remember that it is okay to feel different emotions.
• Appreciate hard work and progress, rather than focusing just on success.

Resilience Board Game

• Create a board game with actions showing resilience and actions that don't.
• Resilience actions = learning from a mistake, trying a new food.
• Actions without resilience = giving up easily, blaming others.
• The first player to reach the Resilience Champion space wins!

Challenging Games

• Play stacking cups, wobble blocks, or balance games to learn to keep trying.
• Problem-solving games like Rush Hour teach resilience.
• Asking questions after each game can help children understand how their feelings relate to resilience.