Growth Mindset For Kids: How To Raise Independent Adults
Creating a growth mindset for kids is one of the greatest lessons parents can give to their kids. A growth mindset helps kids learn to keep growing and learning and confronting challenges while allowing them not to be perfect. Here’s how to create a growth mindset for kids.
Children need our guidance for everything, including how they learn. Teaching them how to adopt a growth mindset is critical to developing skills throughout their entire life.
It will also give them a better chance of becoming happy and successful adults! And that’s totally the goal of parenting, right?
Parents have a natural desire to make things easier for their kids. When they fail at something, we are tempted to jump in and help. We now know this is bad practice when it comes to teaching our children a growth mindset.
The struggle is part of the learning process. Unfortunately, if we step in, our kids will stop trying to do it themselves.
If you are wondering how to develop a growth mindset in your children, there are some helpful strategies that you can use.
What Is A Growth Mindset?
A growth mindset is a belief that our skills are not set in stone and can be developed and improved over time through consistent learning. This means that for any of our abilities, there’s room for growth (or improvement) through effort and determination.
The opposite is called a fixed mindset. People with a fixed mindset are convinced their abilities are fixed and cannot be further developed. This belief can make it easy to give up at the first sign of failure.
Have you ever shared something new you’ve been learning with a friend and they said, “Oh, I could never do that!” even if they never even gave it a try? That is a very good example of a fixed mindset.
Why Is Growth Mindset Important For Kids?
We start learning from the moment we are born, so developing a growth mindset from an early age will have a significant impact on our learning process and our lives.
During school years, children come across so much new information, and holding a fixed mindset will make them admit defeat at the first sign of failure.
With a growth mindset, kids intuitively understand how the learning process works and that whatever you are trying to do, there will be obstacles to overcome.
And yet, there are kids who reach a certain age or a certain point and think they can’t (or don’t need to) keep growing and learning.
However, research has shown that being able to set goals and use feedback to solve problems, learn new skills, and achieve goals is essential for happiness in life.
Staying consistent is what will allow them to grow their skillset. In other words, having a growth mindset will make children eager to learn and more resilient to the occasional mistake or failure.
Growth Mindset Benefits For Kids
Children love to explore and are curious by nature, which is an aid toward having a growth mindset.
At a certain point, children realize that developing certain skills is not always comfortable, and there is always a learning curve. The children who can embrace that challenge will be more inclined to enjoy it and not give up.
Kids with a growth mindset enjoy many benefits, including:
- Better grades in school
- Willingness to take on new challenges
- Resiliency when facing failure
- Independence
How To Develop And Teach Growth Mindset To Elementary Students
Kids develop a strong growth mindset best when both parents and teachers work together. Teachers witness our little ones’ learning process day after day firsthand.
By offering proper guidance, support, and encouragement, teachers can have a huge impact on how kids approach learning.
Teaching a growth mindset to elementary students is definitely possible and can be very rewarding, especially when you see them improving their skills and learning process.
Parents also play a large role in teaching a growth mindset through example. As a parent, do you believe there’s always more to learn and improve, or do you think you’ve reached the end of your path in that regard?
Kids learn best by example, and one of the toughest parts of parenting is living what you want to teach your kids. In other words, parents need to be growth mindset students too!
Here are some great ways to teach kids how to have a growth mindset:
1. Set Attainable Goals
Goal setting is an excellent method students can use to track their progress and further develop their growth mindset.
To achieve success, I recommend using the SMART goal-setting method where the goals are realistic, attainable on an individual level, and time-based.
Also, goals should be specific and easy to track. Think about being able to use exact numbers and percentages, whenever possible.
Setting smaller milestones will also help kids be more organized when learning and encourage them to enjoy the smaller victories along the road.
Grab these free SMART goal planning sheets to help your kids learn how to set goals and work towards them!
2. Use Failure As A Teaching Moment
One of the greatest differences between a person with a fixed mindset and one with a growth mindset is how they see failure.
The fixed mindset implies you are born with a skill and there’s no way to improve it so failure is often seen as definitive.
On the other hand, students that have a strong growth mindset will analyze their mistakes and see them as an opportunity to improve in the future. It’s up to teachers and parents to point that out in a supportive and encouraging way.
As a result, whenever one of your kids fails at a task or makes a mistake, highlight what they can learn from it and, if necessary, help them plan their next steps towards solving the problem.
3. Praise Them For The Right Things
We are naturally inclined to praise our students for their intelligence and effort. Sadly, this positive encouragement contributes toward a fixed mindset, despite our good intentions.
Next time your child performs well, praise them for their unique ability to find solutions, not for their intelligence or hard work. The other way would imply they are successful simply because they were born intelligent or because they worked really hard.
Growth mindset is more than just sheer effort….which in most cases is not enough to succeed. It’s about learning from mistakes, trying new perspectives, and in general, working to find different ways of solving the problem.
4. Struggle Is Normal
Learning can be difficult and your kids will all struggle in one way or another while they gain new concepts and skills.
Take some time to explain that struggling is normal when learning, and that’s precisely when the brain starts to rewire itself and make new connections. And once those new connections are established, the new skill will seem much easier.
This knowledge will help prevent your kids from feeling frustrated and defeated when they have a difficult time learning something new. Instead, they will react positively to a challenge and feel encouraged to step up and tackle it.
5. Switch Between Teaching Methods
Getting your students exposed to various teaching strategies will help them handle a greater diversity of challenges, now, and later in life.
When presenting new content, make sure you constantly rotate between various types. Includes many different approaches, including books, chalkboard presentations, videos, audio clips, websites, and more.
6. It’s All About The Journey
Learning itself (instead of the end result) can be fun and rewarding, and this kind of enthusiasm is what’s important to communicate to your kids.
Real growth happens only when obstacles are overcome. Be sure to closely monitor your kids’ progress and offer new challenges to help them further develop their skills.
Always present challenges as fun and exciting, and at the same time, label simple tasks as boring. Encouraging students to welcome challenges is key to a healthy growth mindset.
Growth Mindset Activity Ideas For Kids
Growth mindset activities for kids are a wonderful way to teach them this kind of thinking, and the good news is, there are so many to choose from! Here are some of my favorites.
Growth Mindset Yoga
Growth Mindset Yoga, also known as Grow-ga, is an interesting method to practice a growth mindset with your kids while also doing yoga.
Start by choosing some easy yoga poses you know your kids will be comfortable doing, such as downward dog, cobra, child’s pose, and tree pose. Then, add a growth mindset statement to each pose.
Here are some statements you can use in your grow-ga practice:
- I go after my dreams.
- I am a problem solver.
- Learning is my superpower.
- I learn from my mistakes.
- When I get tired I don’t quit. I take a break.
- I trust that I am on the right track.
Accomplishment Jar
Celebrating hard work and progress will further strengthen the growth mindset of children. This is an excellent exercise for the classroom but works just as well if you do it at home.
Ask the kids to bring a jar and decorate it however they please. Then, over the course of a month (it can be even longer, like a semester or even an entire year), they can write their achievements on small pieces of paper and put them in the jar.
The achievements can be anything, from visiting a place they love to solving a difficult math problem. However, instruct them to focus on the process as well, not just the result. It’s a great way to help the children remember the process and all the hard work that went into the achievement.
Grab these free SMART goal planning sheets to help your kids learn how to set goals and work towards them!
Famous Fails
There’s no better way to learn about how a growth mindset works than from real-life examples. When we are the ones failing, it can seem like the end of the world.
However, hearing about people who repeatedly failed, didn’t give up, and succeeded, in the end, offers encouragement and a deeper understanding of what having a growth mindset really means.
There are so many examples of people who struggled for success, from Charlie Chaplin, and Fred Astaire, to present-day stars like Oprah Winfrey, J.K. Rowling, and Keanu Reeves.
You can even turn this into a weekly activity while learning about some incredible accomplishments at the same time!
Ask Kids Daily Growth Mindset Questions
Building a growth mindset takes time. Don’t expect it to happen overnight. One way to help your child shift his thinking is by asking him growth mindset questions on a daily basis. Here are some great examples:
- What is the hardest thing you had to do today?
- Did you show kindness to anyone today?
- What did you love most about today?
- Did you make a mistake today, and what did you learn from it?
- Did you try anything new today? How did it make you feel?
- What is the most important thing you learned today?
- What did you do today that you are proud of?
Use The Magic Word
We limit ourselves more than we realize. Whenever your child starts a sentence with “I can’t,” practice adding the magic word “yet” at the end of the sentence.
“I can’t swim….yet“
“I can’t ride a bike….yet“.
You can even make it a challenge and offer small rewards if your kids say “yet” before you do.
Banish Negative Thoughts
We’re all wired to have negative thoughts on a daily basis. Sometimes they can even become overwhelming and this can happen to children as well. So how do we fight them?
Practice sharing negative thoughts with your kids and make it an exercise to flip them into positive affirmations. Also, when your child is having a bad day or going through a struggle, it’s okay to acknowledge his pain.
But also try to normalize it with a statement such as ” Oh, yeah! I hate it when that happens too!”.
As parents, we want to offer our kids moral support when they are hurting, but we should also get them ready for life. And that means helping them understand everyone has bad days at least occasionally.
Use Growth Mindset Affirmations
One of the best strategies to switch to positive thinking is using growth mindset affirmations. Doing this regularly with your children or students will have a big impact.
Here are some wonderful growth mindset affirmations you can try:
- I am a problem solver.
- Struggling makes growth happen.
- I am not afraid to ask for help.
- I am smarter than I think.
- I keep growing every day.
- I am persistent.
- I care about others.
- I welcome new challenges.
The Best Growth Mindset Books For Elementary Aged Kids
As we teach our children to enjoy learning, sparkling love for reading is definitely a the foundation for their cognitive development.
When it comes to building a growth mindset, there are plenty of books on the topic you can read with your children. Here are some of my favorite titles that will hopefully give you a great place to start.
The Little Engine That Could (Ages 0-3)
This title is a childhood classic and I’m sure your little ones will love to hear all about the little engine who, defying her size, manages to pull a train full of toys to the kids waiting on the other side of the mountain.
Overcoming limitations is one of those concepts that stand at the base of a healthy growth mindset and this book illustrates it flawlessly.
I STILL say “I think I can. I think I can” to my kids when they’re struggling with something new!
The Cow Tripped Over the Moon (Ages 3-7)
Here’s a fun rhyming story about an adorable cow prepared to work really hard to achieve a jump over the moon.
The tale is interactive, as it will offer hints and ask the kids questions about what will happen. This will surely become a favorite!
Grab these free SMART goal planning sheets to help your kids learn how to set goals and work towards them!
Brontorina (Ages 4-8)
Another entertaining story about perseverance, Brontorina tells the tale of a large dinosaur who loves to dance and dreams to become a ballerina. Despite her size and other setbacks, she is not ready to give up.
The kids will surely love this adorable tale of determination that sets a good example of the effort needed to succeed.
The Book of Mistakes (Ages 4-8)
Learning to value mistakes is an important part of developing a growth mindset for kids.
This book demonstrates how making mistakes as an artist can eventually lead to beautiful creations. It has charming illustrations and I am sure your children will be inspired by this story.
Jabari Jumps (Ages 4-8)
Little Jabari is a great diver who, despite his training, still hesitates to jump off the high dive. With his dad’s support and encouragement, he manages to overcome his fears and perform the jump.
This is a great book for kids struggling to reach their own goals. The author shows that overcoming fears and relying on the support of others are often needed to reach success.
Mistakes That Worked (Ages 8-12)
Here is another title that analyzes the potential of mistakes by presenting real examples of famous inventions and the strange stories behind them.
I love this idea! Besides illustrating the real value of making mistakes, the kids also get to learn about numerous inventions, both older and more recent. What a fun way to teach your children a growth mindset, right?
Marvelous Mattie (Ages 7-11)
Speaking of inventions, Marvelous Mattie is also an excellent growth mindset book for elementary-aged kids that discusses the topic.
The tale of Mattie is a true story of a prolific female inventor who had to overcome sexism and the restrictive gender roles of her time.
Growth Mindset Worksheets For Kids
Another way to practice a growth mindset at home or in the classroom is with the help of free printable activities and worksheets. There are numerous growth mindset printables and they make wonderful activities for your children or students.
If you do a quick online search you will find tons of amazing growth mindset printables for kids. Nevertheless, with so many options, it can be difficult to choose so I made a list with some of the best free growth mindset worksheets and printables that will help you get started.
- Growth vs. Fixed Mindsets Free Sorting Activity from Crafting Connections
- Growth Mindset Activities For Kids from Understood
- Simple Goal Setting Activity from Crazy For First Grade
- Growth Mindset Yoga Free Printable from Moments A Day
- Free Growth Mindset Resources For Parents & Teachers from Mindset Works
- Growth Mindset Cootie Catcher Fun Activity from Rock Your Homeschool
- Growth Mindset Free Printables For Kids from Tommy John
- Free Printable Growth Mindset Notecards from Picklebums
- Printable Growth Mindset Prompts & Coloring Pages from Kitchen Table Classroom
- Free Goal Setting Printable Worksheets For Kids from Create From Flow
Growth Mindset For Kids: Final Thoughts
Teaching a growth mindset for kids is a vital skill they need for life. Luckily, there are a lot of activities, books, and worksheets available to help do this.
It’s also a relatively new concept which is why, for us parents, it’s a whole new thing we need to learn ourselves. I can definitely say it’s not something that can be ignored, and clearly not the kind of belief that comes naturally….especially to a young child.
The good news is that the Internet offers us an endless number of resources that allow both teachers and parents to develop a growth mindset in their students and children.
Even more, I am sure all the growth mindset activities and exercises you do with the kids will benefit you as well. As grown-ups, we may know a lot, but it’s important to remain “teachable.”
We can also lose focus on what really matters, and practicing a growth mindset is a good way of holding on to it.
Grab these free SMART goal planning sheets to help your kids learn how to set goals and work towards them!
