The Resilience Pack For SEL Skill Building

Ben Cecchini
Aug 28, 2025
2 min read

Updated: Oct 6, 2025

RESILIENCE BREAKDOWN

A Fun Activity & Mini-Lesson For Kids In School & At Home

SHIFT YOUR KID'S ENERGY

Choose the shift your kid(s) need in class or at home.

CALMING BREATHWORK

Let's slow everybody down and set a relaxed tone.

BALANCING BREATHWORK

ot too high, not too low, get your class ready to learn!

BALANCING BREATHWORK

ot too high, not too low, get your class ready to learn!

TRY THESE WITH KIDS!

1. Bounce-Back Story

Ask: “Can you share a time when you failed or got stuck, but then kept trying until you figured it out?” Celebrate these examples and talk about how setbacks are part of growth.

2. Try-Again Challenge

Give students a tongue twister. Have them try once, then again — notice how practice improves results.

“She sells seashells by the seashore”
“Red leather, yellow leather.”
“Unique New York.”
“Toy boat, toy boat, toy boat.”
“She sells seashells by the seashore.”
“Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.”).

3. Famous Fail Reflection

Share one of the below quick examples and start a discussion around resilience with the corresponding question.

Michael Jordan - Cut from his high school basketball team. Became one of the greatest athletes of all time. Ask: “How do you think he felt being cut? What kept him going?”
J.K. Rowling - Rejected by 12 publishers before Harry Potter was accepted. Ask: “What if she had stopped after the first rejection? What can we learn from her persistence?”
Thomas Edison - Over 1,000 failed attempts before inventing the lightbulb. Ask: “Would you have kept going after 100 tries? What made him resilient?”
Walt Disney - Fired from a newspaper job for “lacking imagination.” Later built Disney. Ask: “How would you bounce back if someone said you weren’t creative enough?”
Oprah Winfrey - Demoted from her first TV job and told she wasn’t fit for television. Ask: “What does her story show us about believing in yourself when others don’t?”

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