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When I decided to write an article about practical ways to help kids develop a growth mindset (and why this is so important), I also wanted to share some of the awesome resources that I’ve discovered while researching this topic.
I soon realized that the list would be too big to include it in just one post, so I decided to create this guide of resources to inspire parents who want to raise kids with a growth mindset.
You’ll find all the details about growth mindset and its importance in this article. The resources included here will help you implement those ideas and develop your children’s confidence and resilience.
1. Growth mindset activities: Reading children books that promote a growth mindset
These books are perfect for teaching kids about confidence and resilience. And they are also a great start for discussion more about the growth mindset with your child.
1 – Your Fantastic Elastic Brain: Stretch It, Shape It – a great book for teaching kids about how their brain works and how they can improve their abilities
2 –The Little Engine That Could – a wonderful book about motivation and the power of positive thinking
3 – What Do You Do With an Idea? – an award-winning book about big ideas and self-confidence
4 – What Do You Do With a Problem? – another great book by the same author that teaches kids to see problems in a different way
5 – Mistakes That Worked: 40 Familiar Inventions & How They Came to Be – a nice book for older kids that talks about mistakes that turned out to become great inventions
1 – She Persisted: 13 American Women Who Changed the World – a wonderful and inspiring book that tells the stories of amazing women who changed the world
2 – Beautiful Oops! – a lovely book about mistakes that offers a precious lesson for kids
3 – The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes – a great book about perfectionism that teaches kids that it’s okay to mess things up sometimes
4 – The Most Magnificent Thing – a nice story of a girl who wanted to build something magnificent
5 – Brontorina – a lovely story about holding on to your dreams
2. Growth mindset activities: Printable worksheets for kids
Talking about the principles of the growth mindset is even more effective (and fun) if you do it in a playful way. Children learn a lot better through play and these printable resources are great for encouraging kids to develop the right mindset.
– the Growth Mindset Printables Kits
This is my favorite resource for teaching kids about the growth mindset. It includes many worksheets, activities, posters and coloring pages that helped me a lot.
photo credit: biglifejournal.com
– 5-Day Growth Mindset Challenge for Children
This free challenge is a great start for teaching kids about the growth mindset.
– 25 Growth Mindset Statements and Affirmations
I printed this wonderful list and I read it often to my child. We both love it!
photo credit: biglifejournal.com
– 5-Day Self-Love Challenge for Children
This is another free challenge that is great for boosting children’s self-esteem.
The kit contains a collection of 34 pages of printable worksheets to boost kids’ emotional intelligence. It will offer you a lot of inspiration for planning nice activities with your child.
This is an awesome way to teach kids about mindfulness. You just need to print the list and enjoy the fun ideas!
photo credit: biglifejournal.com
This kit is a small collection of stories of famous people who have failed before becoming successful. These stories are perfect for helping kids overcome the fear of failure.
Having this poster on hand all the time was great! It has a powerful message and it’s great for reminding kids about the importance of a growth mindset.
photo credit: biglifejournal.com
3. Growth mindset activities: Watching movies that promote a growth mindset
I’ve gathered here some movies that illustrate in a lovely way some of the characteristics of a growth mindset. Watching movies with your kids is a fun activity and can also become a good learning opportunity!
We usually rent the movies using our Prime Video subscription but you can also rent them from the library and buy them on DVD.
Piper – a wonderful short movie about challenges and the power of perseverance
Inside Out – my son’s favorite movie and a great lesson about overcoming challenges and managing emotions
The Good Dinosaur – a movie about a dinosaur who is different and struggles to find his own identity
Moana – a story where perseverance and effort play a big role
Zootopia – a story that will teach kids to keep trying
photo credit: Yuganov Konstantin / shutterstock.com
4. Growth mindset: Resources for parents
As parents, we can help kids in many ways to develop a growth mindset. But one of the most effective ways to do this is by being a good role model.
Kids learn more from what we do than what we say. And this applies to their mindset too! So the first step for teaching kids about growth mindset is to start applying it in our own lives.
Here are some great resources for learning more about the growth mindset and how we can apply it in our lives and teach it to our kids.
Mindset: The New Psychology of Success – This book was written by Dr. Carol Dweck, the professor who defined the growth mindset and did an extended research on this topic.
How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character – a book with very helpful ideas on how to help kids reach their full potential
The Yes Brain: How to Cultivate Courage, Curiosity, and Resilience in Your Child – This book was written by the authors of “The Whole-Brain Child: 12 Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child’s Developing Mind” (one of my favorite parenting books) and it focuses on how we can encourage curiosity and resilience in our kids.
The Secret to Raising Smart Kids – an interesting article where Dr. Carol Dweck explains interesting facts about the growth mindset and its importance
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I’ll make sure to update this article anytime I find new interesting resources and activity ideas. If you have any suggestion, please let me know. I would be happy to find out new ideas about this topic!
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