Resilience. We don’t often think about resilience as adults do we? Resilience is the ability to recover or adjust during stressful times. Us parents come face-to-face with stressful situations all the time in day-to-day life and it is resilience that gets us through, but it’s not just us! Kids lives are full of potentially stressful situations too. This could be anything from settling into a new school to having the confidence to take on challenges without the safety net of a parent. This week we want to talk about some fun ways we can help build resilience in our kids (without them even knowing!)

INDEPENDENT PROBLEM SOLVING

Problem-solving plays a massive part in building resilience. This skill not only helps build self-esteem but also teaches your child to manage disappointment when things don’t go quite as they planned. Problem-solving is all about learning to define a problem and think about the possible solutions. Then you try putting those solutions into practice. There are lots of fun ways to practice problem-solving involving games and challenges. Why not try our super fun spaghetti tower game below?

LEARNING TO TAKE HEALTHY RISKS

Learning to take healthy risks is an integral part of building resilience in kids. Research shows that risky play helps increase physical activity, risk management skills and social skills as well as self-confidence. Why not try some of our healthy risk-taking activities below.

EXERCISE

Exercise is another brilliant way to help build resilience. Did you know that exercising increases neurochemicals that calm the brain and help stress? A lot of building resilience is about practising new skills but calming the mind and body is just as important. As adults, we know that exercise helps us feel more positive, and it’s precisely the same for kids. Why not try our Resilience scavenger hunt this weekend to get the kids outdoors?

BE POSITIVE

Learning to be resilient is all well and good, but dealing with failure can be tough, especially for kids. Kids are people pleasers, and they take great pride in getting things right. When things go wrong, it can cause stress and anxiety. Resilient people tend to maintain a more positive outlook on life and cope with stress more efficiently, but we know that learning this skill is not always easy. As parents, it is our role to talk to our kids about all the good things that have happened, even if the outcome was not as they hoped. Take a look at our positive talking points below for some inspiration.

LET THEM BE INDEPENDENT

Independence is hugely important for building resilience in kids. There are lots of different ways to build on independence, and they will change as your child grows. Kids start with potty training when they are just a few years old and will gradually build up to things like going to school, getting the bus or taking a field trip away. And doesn’t it all go a bit fast! Here are some simple ideas for practising independence!

We hope you love these challenges as much as we do! How do you build resilience in your kids? Do you have any tried and tested methods? Join the conversation in the comments below or via our Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages.

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