Ideas for helping kids build resilience
Posted by Ooutoout@reddit | preppers | View on Reddit | 35 comments
It's early but I've been thinking about what gifts to give my friends. We all have young kids (six kids, ages 6-12) and all of us have a similar mindset. I want to give the gift of resilience to the kids, and was thinking I could show them how to build something that they can give to their families, like a first aid kit for the car or something. Have you ever done something like this? What did you teach and how was it received?
More_Dependent742@reddit
Scouts and cadets did it for me. I'm 40 and fat now, and admittedly it's waning. But Christ, the difference between me and those that had neither is (still) astounding
Usernamenotdetermin@reddit
Give them the dues for the local Boy Scouts, cover their fees. Give them an annual or lifetime fishing license or park pass.
Accurate-Dinner2293@reddit
Have them build a tree fort/tree house with you.
Loaded-Potato@reddit
My family when I was growing up would teach us various things that weren't taught in school. Things like how to change a tire, balance a checkbook, build a proper fire. Called it [Insert surname] University.
It helped a lot when I got older.
Swmp1024@reddit
Kids like learning skills. I would focus on those fun skills that build resilience
My kids like playing video games. So I hid their tablets. Complete a treasure hunt to get your tablets this weekend. They had to decode secret messages (pigpen cipher), use a UV light to see secret writing, put another note in freezer (frixion pen ink will disappear with heat and reappear with freezing). use a compass to locate the location of the cache.
I make them tie knots to unlock dessert. Start simple with a square not and work your way up. Go do a rope obstacle course in your area when the eye advance.
Learning how to make a fire is fun. What makes good tinder. Where to find dry tinder after a rain. How to start small and build up a fire. Then go camping.
Direction finding. As before make treasure maps and use a compass. I quiz them when driving "which way is north" all the time and they hate it... but can do it now. We have also added where is the North Star at night, which melds well with looking at stars etc.
Fishing is always a nice skill and very fun. So taking kids on a fishing trip builds resilience and they love it. Make sure you can clean the fish and make fish nuggets.
Mysterious_Touch_454@reddit
Resilience? Fininish style, put them into sandbox and let them eat sand and build things in any weather, even better if its muddy and raining (rainclothes ofc).
pic from internet, but it was also my childhood.
Ooutoout@reddit (OP)
That's great! That looks like a lot of fun.
CurrentWrong4363@reddit
Fishing is a great skill to learn early.
Kids gear is cheaper and you get to learn a lot about knots working with Sharp knives/ hooks and yucky stuff like worms.
Even knowing how to set up a simple crab line and a small net is a really fun day out.
One adult for every 2 kids at the start.
Ooutoout@reddit (OP)
Oh that's a great idea, and we have some good fishing here. Thanks for that!
Ok_Lime_3684@reddit
There are several kits for children that stimulate their scientific and creative curiosity in general, for example, kits to make their own soap, cooking, chemistry, electricity, plants, even animals (triops, sea monkeys), etc. If today I’m interested in self-sufficiency and creating things, I know it’s because of that. Or maybe I asked my parents for that kind of toy because I already had that inclination innately, I don’t know. The point is, it helps.
I think your approach is too literal, ‘I’m going to give them a car first-aid kit’, I don’t know how that could entertain a child. But I think it can be much more interesting to help them develop certain skills and interests in an indirect and more fun way, which will be useful for them in the future.
Ok_Lime_3684@reddit
If there are several children, maybe you’d prefer to do a group activity rather than give each one an individual science kit. But I think the philosophy could be the same, building together an aquaponic system with some fish, making soap or cosmetics, baking bread from scratch, planting tree seeds and then having each of them take care of it and transplant it at home.
JRHLowdown3@reddit
The first month of a Brazilian Jiu jitsu kids class for each of the kids.
You want to teach them resilience, stick to it ness and get them into a discipline that will help them grow as well as learn some important skills, this would be a good choice.
BitterDeep78@reddit
Resilience is not taught by a single activity.
HotIntroduction8049@reddit
Follow through with consequences for poor choices. Kids today are undisciplined and cant function without coddling
AlphaDisconnect@reddit
You give them all the gear they need. Teach them some basics on how to use it. Drop them off in a wilderness area. Give them a mission. Get from here to here. Drop site. To camp site 1. Site 1 to site 2. Site 2 to site 3 which you overnight end be extracted. A multiple day mission. GSMR radios. You will be a close but invisible thing. Watch them struggle a little. Don't take away their victories. But don't give them the marshmallow softie soft treatment. But also this should be simple enough it should not break them. But if they are breaking. Don't break them. Maybe mission ten should push this.
Nature will build them teach them what they really need.
fijiian77@reddit
A large pile of split firewood
ImYourHuckleBerry113@reddit
This is the way. And moving piles of mulch after having 15 pine tree stumps ground up. 29 years later and I still have callouses on my hands from that week. 😂
ryan112ryan@reddit
Scouting.
Even today with its new boy and girl programming it’s fantastic. Troops benefit greatly from active parents.
They’ll learn skills, do challenging things, have fun, problem solve, social, tough it outdoors etc. It’s carefully controlled difficulties but still valuable.
SeaWeedSkis@reddit
If they like to read, as a child I adored the Back to Basics book.
I believe I was around that age when an older sister taught all of we younger siblings (including my brother) how to finger knit. And she taught us the first steps for crochet (cast on and make a chain). It was years later before I learned how to do more with crochet, and decades later I learned that the "cast on" step of crochet is one of the most useful knots there is, the slip knot. I've done the slip knot so many times from childhood crochet that it's burned into muscle memory, so it's the only knot I have no difficulty with when setting up a tarp when camping. If knitting or crochet don't appeal, perhaps net making would be more to their liking? Or leatherworking?
You also might check /r/hobbies for ideas.
Traditional_Fan_2655@reddit
I started raking my son to the Home Depot and later Lowes kids classes starting when he was almost 3. My thumbs can attest to this.
Through the years, he built a large number of projects and had a birthday party at Lowes. All the kids had a sense of accomplishment when they built their kits. We received many Mothers' Day and Father's Day gifts that he "hid" for the week or so before the holiday. I still have them all.
He is very handy as an adult. He fixed a leaking toilet today.
ettubrutusvp@reddit
help kids make homemade soap or candles, simple steps like stirring or adding color. they may gift a useful item and fixing small mistakes. if permitting, u may hike with them outside
DeflatedDirigible@reddit
I used to work at a camp and taught a lot of fire building. Kids those ages really loved using “flint and steel” and turning sparks into flames and then cooking a desert or meal.
Resilience part comes in because they have to nurture those sparks in dryer lint, then pine needles, then the smallest tinder, and slowly build up to logs. Sometimes they fail, especially at the beginning. It’s time consuming to find all the right materials in the right amount and then place them perfectly. It’s art and engineering.
I started using “flint and steel” because too many were burning themselves on matches by holding on too long. Complete attitude shift happened and the kids took so much more pride in their fire-making. Seemed like it was because of the nostalgia and perceived difficulty.
Campfires are also something wild they can control in some ways. They feed it. They control the size. Kids almost never experience that kind of control of something so potentially dangerous and deadly besides firearms.
Ooutoout@reddit (OP)
Oh that is really neat, thanks for that idea. That might be a winner for us.
kuru_snacc@reddit
A cast-iron dutch oven, a bunch of ingredients, a firepit, a mag bar and matches, access to the woods, and tell them they're responsible for dinner. :)
If you're feeling generous, a brief lesson in using the dutch oven and a recipe book.
OneQt314@reddit
You can teach them how to make soap from scratch or candles & give it as gifts.
Help them sew quilted throws or kitchen oven holders. Of course you'll be doing the heavy work but they can help cut, pin and assemble.
Make door/window draft stoppers, the cute ones with animals.
I like the emergency kit idea, have them think about what they may need to survive if the car breaks down in winter or power goes out and then have them prioritize. Then take them shopping for items and assemble the kit.I'm going to suggest a backpack to store the supplies.
Do share what you decide, it'll inspire others as Christmas rolls around. Best!
Maydaybosseie@reddit
how about to teach them to make simple birdhouses, pre cut wood then assemble and paint. it is table friendly, builds pride and the finished gift lets them give something fun to their families
andy1rn@reddit
How about a birdhouse? There are plans online (youtube or instructables) for birdhouses made from one fence picket. If you use cedar, they'll last a long time. Older kids can cut the wood themselves; younger kids can hammer or glue and all can paint. Please supervise though, just in case!
The experience of making something useful from "scrap" wood might get a few of them started on their own projects either now or later. Confidence comes from experience.
joshisnobody@reddit
Gift card to a ninja gym/ class? They get to run around, face plant and fail, but get back up?
avalon01@reddit
I'd second this.
A bounce place, wall climbing for kids, or trampoline park are good choices too. It teaches kids that they are capable of more than they think.
Ooutoout@reddit (OP)
Hah, that's a fun idea. I was thinking something I could teach at a kitchen table and they could turn into a gift for their family.
Dusk_v733@reddit
Idk about material gifts - its gonna be real hit or miss as to whether they enjoy it and actually use it or not.
But putting them in summer camp type activities or boy scout type organizations builds tons of skills that are useful. Just being mentally capable of facing physical hardship is going to go a lot further than any individual tool would.
Sports will build team working skills, build confidence, and provide the physical hardship resiliency.
I wish my parents had put me in boy scouts as a kid. It's super goofy, but the whole premise really is about getting kids to develop necessary skills for self reliance. Tying better types of knots, building fires, pitching a tent, just being comfortable with getting a little dirty etc.
Zealousideal_Owl1395@reddit
There are bandaids that come in cute tins with different patterns. You can get them at target I think, and places like that. They're cute and kids love them, and the tins are durable after you've used up the bandaids. We just got some at a 6 year old's birthday party as party favors, and they were a hit hahah
Ooutoout@reddit (OP)
I like this idea a lot. It's funny, you never know what kids are going to go crazy for!
CadetThrowAwaway@reddit
Depending on your budget, they are about the right age for Crunchlabs, it's a subscription box for kids that gives them little age appropriate STEM projects. Thinking like an engineering and the scientific process is probably one of the best forms of resilience, not like they are learning to build a water filter or first aid kit, but learning how to solve problems
Ooutoout@reddit (OP)
That's a neat idea, thanks. They're a little too pricey for me but maybe next year...