Resilience Week 2026
Tuesday: Managing Change
It was a terrific Tuesday!
Your kids continued to learn and play during the second day of Resilience Week!
Today's focus was on the different ways that we might respond to change, and various strategies to help us adapt and become resilient.
How Tall Can You Go?
A second building challenge was today's kick-off activity! The kids enjoyed seeing how many boxes they could stack without the tower falling over!
Sticky Note Challenge
Today's sticky note challenge was to think of a supporting belief we'd thought of yesterday. I was so impressed with the kids' responses, happy to see they remembered this concept!
Managing Change!
Today's Adventures in Wisdom™ story was about five animal friends who were having to move from their forest to a new home. Tanya the Tortoise is sad and holds onto the past. Carla the Cat is anxious and scared to venture out into her new neighborhood. Griffin the Grizzly Bear is angry and writes letters of complaint. Ollie the Ostrich is in denial and keeps his head in the sand. While Rob the Rabbit is excited to explore!
Wyatt the Wise Wizard™ teaches the four unhappy animals that they can choose to feel differently by acknowledging their concerns, looking for the positives about the change and then visualizing themselves adjusted to the change.
We explored 2 different breathing techniques that can help calm our nervous system when we're upset or worried. By calming our body, we can calm our brain and relax the threat response. THEN we're ready to consider looking at our situation from different a perspective.
Healthy ways to handle change.
Kids got to browse a page full of helpful ideas for responding to change and choose 4-5 or that resonated with them. They cut them out and pasted them onto a plate mounted on a straw. They can spin the plate and see which suggestion the straw points to and try it out!
Examples include:
Talk to a trusted adult.
Get a good night's sleep.
Ask for a hug.
Make time for fun.
Be kind to yourself.
Keep your regular routine as much as possible.
Kids had the opportunity to think about upcoming changes and how they've been thinking and feeling about it.
They used Wyatt's strategy to notice how they feel about it, list the good things about it and then visualize enjoying the positive things about the change.
Snack Time and Group Games
The kids have been enjoying snack time and group games!
Today we played 4 Corners and Poison Dart Frog.
Exploring the Brain!
Today we learned about three parts of the brain. The amygdala (our "guard dog" that feels our feelings and responds to threats by triggering fight, flight or freeze nervous system state. The hippocampus that stores our memories, like an elephant. And the prefrontal cortex that, like a wise owl, helps us make good choices, think logically and formulate plans for achieving goals.
Summary Poster
The kids got to add to the poster "How I can handle change." Responses were to get good sleep, ask for a hug, talk to a trusted adult, etc.
Once again, we had a great day together!