Grit, Perseverance, Resiliency

Use these engaging downloadable activities to reinforce the lessons taught in the storybook, Catch the Ball! The activities are best suited for children ages 5-11.  The Five Downloadable Activities include: Activity 1 – How Might they Be...

Reinforce the importance of the social skills that RJ learns in the story The WORST Day of My Life EVER!, part of the BEST ME I Can Be! series, by displaying these colorful 8.5"x11" posters in classrooms, hallways, and common areas in your...

Staying on task until a job is done can be tough for adults, so it's not surprising that it's also difficult for most children. Teaching kids the importance of staying focused and finishing tasks is something that will serve them well in life. Help...

Planning is the ability to create a roadmap to reach a goal or achieve a task, while prioritizing involves the ability to make decisions about what is important for you to focus on next. It can be challenging for children to know where to get started on...

It's easy for kids to feel sad when bad things happen in their lives. This is especially true when boys and girls are bullied or picked on, or feel left out and isolated. Author and School Counselor Bryan Smith has developed four exercises to accompany...

When children learn or try something new, they can easily get discouraged when things don't go as planned. They don't yet understand that mistakes and failure are parts of learning. Author and educator Bryan Smith has developed four excellent activities...

Flexible thinking allows people to think about things in new ways or to incorporate new information into a specific plan or idea. Flexible thinkers are often able to come up with more than one solution to a problem or challenge. The ability to think...

Self-control is the ability to regulate one's emotions, thoughts, and behavior and to keep one's cool in the face of disappointment. These four activities developed by author Bryan Smith can help children with self-control. The lessons are designed to...

Too much stress STINKS! Students in grades K through 6 will identify the negative side effects of experiencing too much stress and develop healthy strategies for dealing with stressful situations. Reinforce the lesson from the storybook, Stress...

Initiative is the ability to start an activity, plan, or task. Learning how to take initiative and get things done is an important executive function skill for children. Author and educator Bryan Smith has developed five activities to accompany the...

Problem solving involves many other executive functioning behaviors, including reasoning, attention, planning, initiation, working memory, and self-monitoring. Teach your students problem solving skills with these activities that accompany the...

The more people focus on the positive things happening in their lives, the more zest they will have. All students should be encouraged to find ways to look at their world through a positive lens. In this activity from ZEST: Live It! Activity Guide,...

Students will practice gathering information and persevering on the task of writing a survival guide. This activity will allow students to understand that many famous people displayed grit when they continued to try very hard even after experiencing...

By identifying areas within the school that they could improve, students will gain the knowledge of the steps needed to stay on task and work effectively as a group. Place students in groups and ask them to search for the top "100 Best Of..." This...

There are several items that exist today because they were discovered by mistake or by accident. As a class or in small groups, think of several ways of how an item that was invented by mistake has proven to be beneficial in our daily lives. This...

The purpose of this activity is for students to recognize and identify how to alter one's environment to improve a situation.  Students will review qualities that some people have that make it easier for them to overcome obstacles or challenges, and...