Resourcefulness is undoubtedly the most relevant skill for facing challenges, solving problems, and finding creative solutions to complex situations. This is especially true for children, as building resourcefulness is one of the most important skills for their personal development.
Does this sound familiar? Do your children occasionally face difficult situations or challenges? Do they welcome the challenge and enjoy finding a solution, or do they stand helpless before it? Get to know the foundations of effective resourcefulness in children in this post. Feel free to read, apply, and share.
Resourcefulness is a key component of children’s ability to handle challenging situations successfully. It provides them with a framework for problem-solving and tackling challenges, backed by the enjoyment of the process; creative thinking that allows them to find “outside the box” solutions; and the perseverance needed to give their determination the time required to lead the effort to a solution, even when the path is full of obstacles.
The result? Resourcefulness strengthens children’s self-confidence and teaches them that no matter what, they can face any challenge, big or small. Resourcefulness equips children with the ability to remain calm under pressure and exhibit mental flexibility.
However, developing resourcefulness in children is not self-evident, especially at a young age, and many children may feel helpless when faced with complex problems or may be quick to give up when things don’t go as planned right away. The big question, then, is how can we, as parents, help our children develop this critical skill? To answer that, we first need to understand the foundations upon which resourcefulness is built.
Resourcefulness: 3 Essential Components for Developing Resourcefulness in Your Children
Resourcefulness is a life skill based on three major components:
- A Growth Mindset
- Creative Thinking
- Perseverance
Let’s look at them, one by one.
Resourcefulness: A Growth Mindset
A growth mindset is a research-backed concept that success in learning and achievement is not based on innate traits (which cannot be changed) but on effort and learning.
A significant part of a growth mindset is emphasizing children’s ability to embrace any challenge as part of the motivation that drives them to solve it. This is based on the understanding that success requires effort, and that only commitment, determination, and perseverance over time will lead them to it.
A growth mindset, and particularly embracing challenges over time, is especially important in the “instant” culture into which 21st-century children are born, where success is expected to happen overnight, and where they are likely to develop an unrealistic expectation of success in every situation.
For example: When children try to build a tall tower out of blocks and the tower keeps falling, a growth mindset will lead them to believe that success simply requires more trial and error, and that their lack of success is only temporary (which is reflected in the magic word of a growth mindset: “yet”).
Therefore, a child with a growth mindset will choose to start by building a smaller tower, gradually strengthening their building skills step by step, with continuous learning, understanding that the more they learn and improve, the better they’ll be able to build the tall, stable, and impressive tower they aim for.
Resourcefulness: Creative Thinking
Creative thinking is the ability to view problems and challenges from new angles, finding original solutions—what is commonly referred to in business jargon as “thinking outside the box.”
This is a flexible and open approach to exploring diverse and surprising possibilities, which can help children handle complex situations in their own way, not necessarily by creating new ideas, but also by connecting existing ideas in new ways, leading to creative combinations that result in unexpected yet effective solutions.
Creative thinking is especially important in an era where children are exposed to vast amounts of information and ready-made solutions. Instead of adopting only existing solutions, creative thinking leads children to ask the right questions, explore new possibilities, and approach problems in a personal, unique way.
For example: When children try to build a tall tower out of blocks and the tower keeps falling, creative thinking will lead them to look for new ways to build the tower. They may decide to change the shape of the tower, starting with a wider base for stability, use different materials that will allow them to achieve the desired height, or decide to integrate the falling tower into a new game they hadn’t originally planned, where the tower’s collapse is part of the fun or the game’s objectives.
Thus, instead of being stuck with the problem, they can find a creative way to bypass it, solve it in their unique way, or approach it from a different angle, by redefining the activity or using goal inversion to challenge their thinking and arrive at a different and unexpected solution.
Resourcefulness: Perseverance
Perseverance is the ability to continue facing challenges with determination repeatedly over time, even when the activity does not lead to the desired results, and even when encountering difficulties and failures.
Perseverance is based on the understanding that success is a continuous process and that failure is an inevitable part of it, which is a learning opportunity. Children who learn to persevere develop mental resilience and the ability to handle frustrations, enabling them to aim for and achieve higher goals.
Perseverance is especially important in an era where there is a tendency to seek quick fixes and instant answers to every problem. Perseverance skills teach children that lack of success is not a reason to give up, but a challenge that requires them to reassess and invest more thought and effort, as part of the learning that will allow them to improve the process and achieve the goal.
For example: When a child tries to build a tall tower out of blocks and the tower keeps falling, perseverance will lead them to continue trying again and again, despite the collapses, and not to give up and get discouraged. A child with a sense of perseverance will understand that each fall is an opportunity to learn something new about how they are building the tower, and that it is the repeated attempts that help them recognize and understand the different options available to them, on their way to improving and progressing towards the stable and tall tower they planned.
Bottom line
Resourcefulness is undoubtedly the most relevant skill for facing challenges, solving problems, and finding creative solutions to complex situations. This is especially true for children, as building resourcefulness is one of the most important skills for their personal development, for the same reasons.
As you may have learned from the article, resourcefulness is a vital life skill that rests on three key components: a growth mindset, creative thinking, and perseverance. These are qualities you can instill in your children through goal-oriented parenting strategies, which I will delve into in the next article. But first, let’s start by connecting your kids to the importance of these concepts in a fun, inviting, and enjoyable way:
The Flamingo That Lost Its Pink
Resourcefulness, creative thinking, and perseverance are integral parts of the social skills toolkit of Elaine and her older brother, who team up to help their friend, the flamingo, who has come from afar and lost her pink color along the way.
This delightful, heartwarming, and especially charming book illustrates the practical meaning of tackling a tricky problem in every way possible, without giving up…
This is the third book in the “Little Heroes” series, offering readers a glimpse into essential life skills in a lighthearted manner, complemented by eye-catching illustrations, playful rhymes, and a perfect rhythm for shared bedtime reading.
It’s a magical book about friendship, resourcefulness, and unwavering dedication against all odds, equipping your children with helpful tools to face challenges with listening, care, and a lot of goodwill, all while connecting them to the topic in a fun, engaging, and thought-provoking way!
Now It’s Your Turn
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Do you want to strengthen your children’s ability to face challenges and difficult situations successfully ?
Click the pink button now and purchase for them the book “The Flamingo That Lost Its Pink”.
