Staying Positive

The ability to use tactics and strategies to overcome setbacks and  achieve goals

 

This skill is all about being equipped to manage emotions effectively and being able to  remain motivated, and ultimately to motivate others, even when facing setbacks. 


The early steps focus on identifying emotions – particularly feeling positive or negative.  Building off that is the ability to keep trying – and then staying calm, thinking about what  went wrong, and trying to cheer up and encourage others. 


Suggested activities to try at home to build the skill of Staying Positive: 


For younger children 


Thumbs up, thumbs down. Talk about different feelings and identify which are positive  emotions (thumbs are up) and which are negative emotions (thumbs down). Discuss how  you are feeling at different points of the day. 

Build a tall tower. Work together to build the tallest tower you can with toy bricks, Lego or  anything other suitable construction materials. When it falls down, talk about how you feel  and try again to build it even taller. 


For older children 


Play a tricky game. Play a computer or board game that you know is tricky, but is still fun!  Talk about when things go wrong, or you are losing. Talk about how you feel and what you  need to do to stay calm and carry on. Encourage each other to keep going. 

Master something new. Think of an activity that requires practice and set it as a challenge.  Could be to learn a new language, how to juggle, to play a new song on an instrument or to  do a new magic trick!  



For more Skills Challenges to try at home, visit:  

skillsbuilder.org/homezone