Free Resilience Printables and Montessori-Inspired Resilience Activities {Growth Mindset Unit}

Like our previous calming focus, resilience activities for both kids and adults are needed more than ever this year and to start the new year. So I decided to have a month-long unit of resilience printables and activities for a growth mindset unit! I even have a new Montessori-inspired resilience pack for our newsletter subscribers’ resource library!

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links (at no cost to you).

Montessori Shelves with Resilience-Themed Activities

You’ll find Montessori-inspired resilience numbers, letters, and and more (part of my subscriber freebie pack, so just sign up for my email to get the link and password … or check the bottom of your latest newsletter if you’re already a subscriber)

You could mix your resilience-themed activities among your shelves according to curriculum area. Or you could have a special resilience-themed area something like the one pictured. My shelves at the beginning of our unit have a mixture of skill levels. Many of the activities can be adapted for a variety of levels. Many of these are great for early elementary as well as preschoolers. If you’re a homeschooler, just choose the activities that work for your child’s interests and ability levels. If you don’t have room for all the activities you’d like to do, simply rotate them.

Even though I have books on shelves, I keep the main Montessori-friendly books for our current theme in a book basket by the themed shelf. You’ll find a few of the books I’ve used here. For toddlers and preschoolers, at least ¾ of the books I use are Montessori friendly (focusing on reality without smiling or talking animals or smiling or talking vehicles). Growth mindset books often have images that aren’t Montessori-style images, though. Because of the more abstract concepts, many of the books have abstract images as well.

You’ll find many great growth mindset books in my growth mindset book post at my Bits of Positivity blog.

I normally have an art print of the month. Because our Christmas tree is where our themed shelf is normally, I don’t have a place for the framed picture. Instead, I’m focusing on a variety of artists who experienced and overcame failure. I like to use the Big Life Journal The Famous Failures Kit (not a free resource). You’ll find some other helpful resources in my “Don’t Give Up {Growth Mindset Inspiration from Famous Failures}” post at my Bits of Positivity blog.

Favorite Shelves, Trays, Baskets, and More for Montessori Homeschoolers

I often get asked about the trays, baskets, etc., that I use, so I published a post with many of the items. You can find lots of helpful resources here. They’re not all essential, so don’t feel you need to have everything. Just choose what’s best for your unique family’s needs.

Resilience Books, Posters, and Free Printables

Resilience Book with Growth Mindset, Yoga, and Breathing Cards

Free Printable: Growth Mindset Notecards from Picklebums

Free Printable: Intro to Yogalore/My Daddy Is a Pretzel: Yoga & Movement Pose Cards by Yogalore at Teachers Pay Teachers

Free Printable: 8 Breathing Exercise Cards from Childhood 101

I especially like the book Resilience because it’s an easy-to-understand, Montessori-friendly introduction to resilience for even young children.

All my grandkids like small notecards, so the growth mindset notecards are simple, positive reminders that they find inviting.

I used a different Yogalore series last month for our calming unit. This is another great sequence of yoga activities with a number of flexible poses … perfect for a resilience theme.

I kept out the 8 Breathing Exercise Cards from last month. Breathing exercises (and calming activities in general) are great aids for developing resilience.

Also on the top shelf, you’ll see the books I’m Gonna Push Through and Your Fantastic Elastic Brain. They’re great for encouraging resilience and growth mindset in general.

Free Printable: Growth Mindset Coloring Sheets from Art Is Basic at Teachers Pay Teachers

The two free printables in the tray on the top shelf say “I can do hard things” and “Don’t give up!” I like growth mindset coloring pages like these because they’re helpful reminders for kids … and kids who love to color enjoy making their own posters.

On the far right of the top shelf, I have a poster I printed out from the free Resilience Classroom Posters by Tim Robinson – Preparing Lifelong Learners at Teachers Pay Teachers. I plan to rotate them weekly or so. You can find a variety of free growth mindset posters at Teachers Pay Teachers that make good reminders.

Resilience Salt Writing Tray with Movable Alphabet Letters in Print and Cursive

Free Printables: bounce back letter b and resilience letter r for salt writing tray (part of my subscriber freebie pack, so just sign up for my email to get the link and password … or check the bottom of your latest newsletter if you’re already a subscriber).

You’ll see a variety of simple letter writing trays in my previous unit study posts. I often used the wooden tray from the Melissa & Doug Lace and Trace Shapes. You can use whatever tray or container work best for you, though.

I typically now use this lovely spelling/alphabet tray from FamilyTreeWW on Etsy. I like it for writing more than one letter or spelling words.

If you would like help with introducing phonetic sounds, introducing objects with sounds, or beginning phonics in general, check out my DIY Beginning Montessori Phonics with Preschoolers.

Resilience Word Analysis with Soft C Printable and ce Phonogram Card

Free Printable: “ce” resilience phonogram cards (part of my subscriber freebie pack, so just sign up for my email to get the link and password … or check the bottom of your latest newsletter if you’re already a subscriber)

Free Printable: Hard and Soft C and G Posters (reduced in size) from Make, Take and Teach

Not everyone teaches the “ce” phonogram, but I like to use it when analyzing the soft c sound in a word like resilience (especially with early elementary-age kids). I used the printable from Make, Take and Teach during our peace unit, too. There are a number of other free “soft c” printables at Teachers Pay Teachers that you can use, depending on what type of work you’d like to do with the “soft c” sound.

I have a post and video on how to introduce words starting with phonograms, even with very young children. There’s an explanation of soft and hard c on the free printable from Make, Take and Teach. It’s fine to use that explanation for the soft c.

Bounce-Back Tennis Ball Alphabet with Cursive Tracing Board and Bounce Back Betty Book

Free Printable: Bounce back movable alphabet cards in manuscript and cursive (part of my subscriber freebie pack, so just sign up for my email to get the link and password … or check the bottom of your latest newsletter if you’re already a subscriber)

Some Montessorians like to introduce cursive right away, while others introduce manuscript with cursive later on (often in year 3). With children older than 4, I like to introduce cursive with a cursive tracing board instead of using sandpaper letters. I have the 2-sided version (with capital letters on one side and lowercase on the other), since capital cursive letters aren’t commonly seen on written materials.

After tracing the letters on the tracing board, the child traces the manuscript letters in alphabetical order. Then the child matches each of the cursive letters to the manuscript letters.

I like the book Bounce Back Betty because it focuses on another aspect of resiliency than simply not giving up. It focuses on trying new things and being okay (bouncing back) if they don’t work out. By trying new things, you can find your niche.

Stretchy Toy Counting or Adding Activity

Free Printable: Stretchy toy number cards (part of my subscriber freebie pack, so just sign up for my email to get the link and password … or check the bottom of your latest newsletter if you’re already a subscriber).

You can use any 1-6 dice for this activity along with a stretchy toy (or even balls of stretchy homemade slime). The stretchy toy is to emphasize the elasticity or stretchiness of being resilient. I used the happy stretchy man toy. (I have a set of 24 with 6 of each color.) I normally use only one color of counters in Montessori-style math activities, but I wanted to show a variety of concepts this time.

I had these on the shelf, and all three of my grandkids were instantly attracted to them. My 2½- and 3-year-old grandkids naturally sorted them by color and counted them. My 7-year-old granddaughter walked by and noticed that 6+6+6=18.

3 Addend Stretchy Toy Addition Layout

I think that this is a fun way to introduce adding three addends (and introducing multiplication as well). The child can roll the dice for each of the three colors and then add them up. Bubble Gum Brain is one of my now-7-year-old granddaughter’s favorite growth mindset books. It’s perfect for focusing on the stretchy, elastic part of resiliency!

Escape a Fixed Mindset Maze Activity

Free Printable: Escape a Fixed Mindset Maze by The Counseling Teacher Brandy at Teachers Pay Teachers

I wanted to have something different than the traditional following a maze with a pencil activity. So I squeezed together 3 pieces of Wikki Stix to make a waxed string long enough to go through the maze. My oldest granddaughter loves this activity! She goes through the maze following only the growth mindset phrases to reach the end. I have a pencil available for the child to do the maze that way if preferred (or to use a pencil after the Wikki Stix if the child wishes).

Tray for Making a Growth Mindset Booklet

Free Printable: Growth Mindset Mini-Book by Sam Van Gorp at Teachers Pay Teachers

This is another favorite activity of my 7-year-old granddaughter. Using the printable, she’s put together Growth Mindset booklets for herself, her sister, and her 2½-year-old cousin. Then she loves coloring her own book.

Free Montessori-Inspired Resilience Pack

Montessori-Inspired Calming Pack for DIY Cards and Counters, Number or Letter Matching, Number or Letter Basket, Bead Bar Work, Hands-on Math Operations, Number or Letter Salt/Sand Writing Tray, Letter Tracing, DIY Movable Alphabet, and Creative Writing (subscriber freebie, so just sign up for my email to get the link and password – or check your inbox if you’re already a subscriber).

Free Growth Mindset Printables

Check out “The Ultimate List of Free Growth Mindset Printables for Kids and Adults” at my Bits of Positivity blog!

Of course, be sure to check the activities above for links to the free printables I used. Those are typically instant downloads, although I’ll sometimes use a subscriber freebie from someone’s site. And I feature our subscriber pack for the month!

Growth Mindset Resources and Activities

Growth Mindset Products for Kids and Adults

Free Resilience Printables and Montessori-Inspired Resilience Activities {Growth Mindset Unit}
Help Your Child Develop Perseverance By Using Montessori Principles
Modeling Perseverance for Toddlers
Free Determination Songs and Rhymes (If you like to study character traits, many use “determination” as the character trait for perseverance. Determination is also one of the core Paralympic values. I have posts from here and BitsofPositivity.com in my character-based (virtues) unit studies.)
Free Growth Mindset Songs for Kids {Character Education Resources}
Best Growth Mindset Quotes for Kids and Adults
Don’t Give Up {Growth Mindset Inspiration from Famous Failures}
The Ultimate List of Free Growth Mindset Printables for Kids and Adults
Free Brain and Growth Mindset Printables and Montessori-Inspired Brain Activities
The Best Growth Mindset Books for Kids
What Is Growth Mindset? (And Why We All Need It)
Beautiful Growth Mindset Resources from Big Life Journal
Growth Mindset Resources Pinterest Board

Peace and Mindfulness Resources and Activities (which are also helpful for resilience)

Meditation Products for Kids

If you’d like ideas for calendar-based themes throughout December and January, see my December Themed Activities for Kids and January Themed Activities for Kids.

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