🧠 New Activity: Never Give Up Challenge + The Shaq controversial parenting rule

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🖍️ ✂️ ACTIVITY OF THE WEEK

The Never Give Up Challenge

Objective: Help children practice perseverance by completing a series of fun, age-appropriate challenges that might be tricky at first but can be accomplished through determination and effort.

Materials:

• A timer (phone or kitchen timer)

• Simple household items for challenges (e.g., a ball, stackable cups, string, paper, pencils)

• A small notebook or paper for reflection

• Stickers or stars for tracking progress (optional)

Steps:

1. Introduction (5 minutes):

   • Affirmation Talk: Start by talking about the affirmation "I won’t give up." Ask your child if they’ve ever faced something difficult or frustrating, and how they felt when they kept trying. Explain that the activity today is all about learning that with persistence, they can achieve anything, even if it’s challenging at first.

   • Share that the key to success isn’t always doing something perfectly right away, but never giving up and trying again and again.

2. Create a Challenge Chart (5 minutes):

   • Make a simple chart on a piece of paper or in a notebook with different challenges and space to mark their progress.

   • Explain that after each challenge is completed (or after they make progress), they can place a sticker, a star, or a checkmark to celebrate their determination.

3. The Never Give Up Challenges (30 minutes):

   • Challenge 1: Cup Tower Challenge (5 minutes)

     • Give your child a stack of cups and challenge them to build the tallest tower they can in 3 minutes. It may fall over a few times, but the key is to keep trying until the timer runs out!

     • Encourage them by saying, "If it falls, try again—don’t give up!"

   • Challenge 2: Balloon Keep-Up (5 minutes)

     • Inflate a balloon and challenge your child to keep it in the air for 1 minute by tapping it. They might find it tricky at first, but the goal is to keep trying even if it falls to the ground.

     • Cheer them on with reminders like, "You’ve got this—don’t give up!"

   • Challenge 3: Paper Airplane Test (10 minutes)

     • Have your child make a paper airplane and then fly it across the room. If it doesn’t go far, help them make adjustments and test it again.

     • Talk about how each test gets them closer to success, and that every step is progress: "We’re getting closer—let’s try again!"

   • Challenge 4: Un-knot the Knot (10 minutes)

     • Give your child a piece of string or yarn with a knot in it. Challenge them to untie the knot. This task requires patience and perseverance, and it’s okay if they need help.

     • As they work on the knot, remind them, "Sometimes things take time, but we won’t give up!"

4. Reflection Time: Celebrating Progress (10 minutes):

   • After completing the challenges, sit down together and reflect on the process. Ask questions like:

     • Which challenge was the hardest for you?

     • How did it feel when you couldn’t do it right away?

     • How did it feel when you didn’t give up and kept trying?

   • Highlight that even though some challenges were tricky, their persistence helped them overcome them. Celebrate the effort just as much as the results!

5. Affirmation Wrap-Up (5 minutes):

   • End by repeating the affirmation together: "I won’t give up."

   • Encourage your child to remember this lesson whenever they face something difficult, whether it’s a challenge at school, a new skill they are learning, or a frustrating situation.

   • Let them know that you are proud of their effort and that trying is what truly matters.

Why This Works:

• Hands-On Challenges: The playful and interactive tasks allow children to experience firsthand what it means to persist, reinforcing the lesson through action.

• Positive Reinforcement: Celebrating their progress with stickers or stars on a challenge chart helps children visualize their persistence and success.

• Building Resilience: By reflecting on their experience, children learn that failure or difficulty is part of the process, and not a reason to give up.

This activity empowers children to live out the affirmation "I won’t give up" by practicing resilience and persistence in a fun, achievable way. Through these challenges, they will learn that trying again, even after setbacks, is a key part of growth and success.

BEFORE YOU GO

Other ways we can help:

• Follow our Charm Words Daily Affirmations for Kids podcast

• Purchase our first tracing affirmations journal

• Send us topics you want us to design activities for: [email protected]