Girlguiding - Think Resilient - Activity Book by Tom Burgess Editorial

Activity Book .

for 7-25 year olds

About Think Resilient Think Resilient is designed to help young people aged 7-25 build their resilience and improve their mental wellbeing by introducing them to some of the techniques they can use to do this. Think Resilient has been developed with support from YoungMinds, a leading UK charity committed to improving the emotional wellbeing and mental health of young people. For more information, go to www.youngminds.org.uk This Activity Book contains all the activities you need as a Peer Educator to deliver a Think Resilient session.

Think Resilient Activity Book for 7-25 year olds © Girlguiding 2016

The contents of this book: 1

Step one: Group guidelines activity

Step two: What is resilience and why do we need it?

Step three: Building my resilience

Understanding emotions and limits

Positive thinking and problem-solving

Self-calming

Identifying support networks

Recognising strengths and achievements

Step four: Choosing resilience

Step one: Take It Forward activities for Leaders

How to use the Think Resilient Activity Book Use this resource together with the session plans on pages 16-21 of the Peer Educator Guide to deliver your first few sessions. Once you’re confident about the messages you’re delivering you can use the activity decider tool and the blank session plan (pages 22-25 in the Peer Educator Guide) to tailor the Think Resilient session to each unit. Don’t forget to reiterate the Think Resilient main messages in every session you deliver: see page 7 of the Peer Educator Guide to refresh your memory of these.

Key to the symbols used Section

Technique

Brownies

Activity

Guides

Aim

The Senior Section

Time

Session step

Resources

Concept

Method

Understanding emotions and limits

What to do

Positive thinking and problem-solving

Comments

Self-calming

Prompt

Identifying support networks

Script

Recognising strengths and achievements

Note Top tip

Think Resilient Activity Book for 7-25 year olds © Girlguiding 2016

A reminder on the session structure steps To get the most out of this session, and get their Think Resilient badge, girls must complete the five steps below, which are designed to build on one another and help participants understand what they’re doing and why. You will complete the first four steps in your session, and then the Leader will complete step five in the weeks following. This book contains all the activities you’ll need to deliver the first four steps. Once you’ve completed your session, you should direct Leaders to www.girlguiding.org.uk/thinkresilient so that they can download the Take It Forward activities and complete the final step with their unit.

think nt resilie

Step one: Group guidelines This step creates some rules to help run the session in a fun, safe and respectful way.

Step two: What is resilience and why do we need it? This step is about making sure everyone has the same understanding of what we’re working towards.

Step three: Building my resilience This is the main part of the resource. It introduces the girls to the different techniques they can use to build their resilience and helps them practise during the session.

Step four: Choosing resilience This step empowers girls to plan what they are going to do to continue to build their resilience. It helps them to think about the different things they could do to look after themselves when times get tough.

Step five: Take It Forward – activities for Leaders This step helps the Leaders put these techniques into practise with the girls after the session to ensure that it has a lasting impact on their lives.

Top tip: Read the activities and try them out before delivering a Think Resilient session. 5

1 Step 1: Group guidelines activity This step creates some rules to help run the session in a fun, safe and respectful way. They can be referred back to during later activities to help manage behaviour. Agree with the Leader beforehand what you’re going to do if these guidelines aren’t followed.

To come to an agreed set of guidelines for the group to follow during this session 5 minutes Flipchart paper/paper taped together

Welcome everybody to your Think Resilient session, which is all about helping you to build your resilience and look after your mental wellbeing. Today, we’re going to explore ways to deal with the challenging situations that might come up as we go through life. These could be day-to-day challenges, like the frustrations of school/work, or more complicated problems to do with your family or friends. In this session, you’ll have a lot of fun as you practise some of the skills you’ll need to manage difficult situations – skills you can use straightaway and throughout your life. But before we start, let’s set some basic guidelines so that we can all get the most of out today.”

Flipchart pens Sticky tack

What to do sk the participants to sit in a group with A you. Together, come up with appropriate group guidelines for the session. If the group has regular unit guidelines that they follow, make sure that you refresh these with the group and make a note of them. uidelines should cover the following G essential concepts: istening to one another and the L Peer Educator. Keeping the conversation confidential. voiding making assumptions about A other people. eing non-judgemental and respecting B each other’s views. aking time out in the Safe Space if you T need it. S it out of an activity if you don’t want to do it. nce this has been done, stick the guidelines O up on the wall, so that everyone can refer to them during the session.

Think Resilient Activity Book for 7-25 year olds © Girlguiding 2016

2 Step 2: What is resilience and why do we need it? This step is about making sure everyone in the group shares the same understanding of what resilience is. Before you start the activities, share the following with the group: A good way to think about resilience and mental wellbeing is to imagine you’re going on a long bike ride. You’ll need a good bike with well-inflated tyres to help you on your journey, where the road could be bumpy and hard-going. In this example, the bike is your resilience and the road is life. How easy or difficult you find the journey is your mental wellbeing. The journey of life is not always smooth, and so you’ll need a good bike in tip-top condition to make the journey as easy as possible. So, just as the bike has many different parts to help you make your journey – tyres, wheels, chain, saddle – so does resilience, which is a set of skills and resources to deal with challenging situations in life. Today’s Think Resilient session has been designed to help us explore those skills and start building our resilience in different ways.”

Choose one activity from this section of the programme to define resilience.

Activity guide Activity name Resilience see-saw

On your plate

Resilience relay race

Section

Method

Active

Think Resilient Activity Book for 7-25 year olds © Girlguiding 2016

2 Resilience see-saw To introduce the concept of resilience 15 minutes

Toilet paper rolls

flat, straight piece of cardboard A per group, around 12cm long and 9cm wide

Sticky tape or masking tape

S omething to balance on each end (eg a light coin on one end; sweets or biscuits on the other – make sure that you have enough sweets so that they outweigh the coin, for example a pound coin and a Starburst)

Paper

Pens

Sticky tack

What to do

During the session: et the participants into small groups of G three or four. You might find it easier to arrange Brownies into their Sixes, and Guides into their Patrols, and then split each Six/ Patrol in half. Get each group to sit by a table or in a circle on the floor. ive each group a toilet paper roll, some G sticky tape and a flat, straight piece of cardboard. Explain to everyone that they need to make a see-saw. Get the groups to stick the toilet roll to the floor - this will be the pivot point. They then need to place the strip of cardboard on top of the toilet roll to become the tilting plank. You can use the illustration to help explain what they need to do. nce each group has their see-saw, hand out O a number of small coins to each group. Ask the participants to put one coin on one end of the cardboard.

These coins represent the different challenging situations in your lives, for example someone might have started calling you names at school/a family member may be in hospital/you might have had a bad day at work etc.”

Before the session: ry out the activity yourself to make sure T that you have enough sweets or biscuits to balance out the coins you’re using.

Think Resilient Activity Book for 7-25 year olds © Girlguiding 2016

2 ow go round to each group and give them N a small number of sweets. Ask the groups to put the sweet on the other end of the cardboard strip to balance out the see-saw.

Sometimes it feels like these things get you down, but you can help balance out these challenging things with the positive things in your life. The sweets represent the different things you can do to help you cope with challenging situations, for example: nowing when things might feel K too much. eeing problems as positive chances S to learn. omforting ourselves when things C are difficult. nowing where to find help K and support.

rite the description of what resilience is W on a piece of paper and stick it to a wall to keep up throughout the session: ‘Resilience is having the skills and resources to deal with challenging situations in life, better than expected.’ sk the groups to add another coin on A the other side and see what happens. Encourage them to keep adding sweets on the other side.

The more resilience skills a person has, the more tools they have not only to be able to deal with challenging situations, but to deal with them well.”

Top tip: This activity may only work if you tape the toilet paper roll to the surface.

Remembering what we’re good at.”

2 On your plate To introduce the concept of resilience 15 minutes

hree different-sized plastic plates T – a saucer, dinner plate, salad plate

A couple of bags of satsumas, apples or similar fruit - enough to more than cover each plate

What to do Before the session: est the number of fruit that would fit T onto every plate – you want to have more than enough so they start falling off when piled on.

During the session: S plit the participants into three groups. Give each group a plate of a different size – but be careful not to draw attention to the size of the plates. ell each group to try to fit as many pieces T of fruit onto their plate as possible and that they can pile these on top of one another. Wait until the pieces of fruit are starting to fall off and nobody can keep everything on their plates before you stop the groups.

Every food item represents something that you have in your life which can be challenging. As the pile gets bigger and higher, the more likely it is that you won’t be able to carry everything on the plate.”

sk the group: Each of your groups had a A number of challenges to deal with. Which group coped best with the challenge? Why? (They have a bigger plate!) rite the underlined definition of resilience W on some paper and stick it to the wall: ‘Resilience is having the skills and resources to deal with challenging situations in life, better than expected.’

Being resilient means being able to cope with challenges. The plates represent the resilience tools we have. The bigger the plate the more resilience we have, which means that we can deal with more challenging situations. The more challenges we have to cope with, the bigger the plate we need. Resilience tools can include: nowing when things might feel K too much. eeing problems as positive chances S to learn. omforting ourselves when things C are difficult. nowing where to find help K and support. Remembering what we’re good at.”

Top tip: If you cannot use plates, try using cardboard cut-outs of different size circles or ask participants to try and pile the fruit on their hands held flat with their palms facing upwards.

Think Resilient Activity Book for 7-25 year olds © Girlguiding 2016

2 Resilience relay race What to do

To introduce the concept of resilience

Before the start of the meeting: 10-20 minutes

12 chairs

Masking tape/sticky tape

Sticky notes

Scissors

hotocopy and cut out the tokens below P ready for the game. Stick them together.

Copies of the tools tokens

Tools tokens Ahead of the session, cut out and stick together these tokens, with the writing on the outside.

Seeing problems as a chance to learn and knowing when things might feel too much

Knowing where to go for help

Comforting ourselves when things get difficult and remembering what we’re good at

Skip an obstacle!

The Peer Educator can cut the tape for you

A teammate can help you over this obstacle

Think Resilient Activity Book for 7-25 year olds © Girlguiding 2016

2 S et up two identical obstacle courses using chairs and sticky tape. Each obstacle course should have three obstacles using two chairs each as indicated in the illustration below. The tape should be used to stick the chairs together in different ways. Note: You need to leave enough space between the strips of tape to allow a girl to weave through the obstacle!

All the way up and down the chair

X of sticky tape

Straight across at the top and bottom of the chair

2 Resilience relay race continued hink of a number of likely challenges that T a girl their age might experience. Examples might include: eer pressure to do something you P don’t want to Bullying Work/life balance Unexpected events nce you’ve written each challenge on an O individual sticky note, stick these sticky notes to the obstacles facing forwards so participants will be able to read them as they approach the obstacle.

When the group is ready to start: S plit the unit into two groups, making sure that the numbers on each side are as equal as they can be.

Resilience is having the skills and resources to deal with challenging situations in life, better than expected. We’re going to be looking at some of the ways to build our resilience. We use different tools to be resilient, which we can develop through practice. These include: nowing when things might feel K too much. eeing problems as positive chances S to learn. omforting ourselves when things C are difficult.

These tools can help you overcome obstacles and challenging situations. The chairs in this race are some of the situations you might face in your day-today lives”. ncourage the group to go and read the E different challenges that are stuck to the obstacles and ask them whether there are any more that they’d like to add. S how them the tokens – which have some of the different resilience techniques written on them on one side and the difference this will make to the obstacle course on the other.

Each token has a different resilience tool written on it – these tools can help someone overcome some of the obstacles life puts in their way. One team will run the race with the tokens and one team will run the race without them”. xplain to the ‘tokens team’ that when they E reach an obstacle they can’t overcome by themselves, they should play a token to receive help to get over that obstacle. nce the token has been played, everyone O else in the team who gets to that obstacle will have the same help. xplain to the other team that since E they don’t have any tokens, they will need to run the race and navigate the obstacles themselves!

nowing where to find help K and support.

emind each team that they are not allowed R to take down the tape themselves, otherwise they will be sent back to the start line!

Remembering what we’re good at.”

Get each team to line up and start the race. he first three girls will each run with T one token.

Think Resilient Activity Book for 7-25 year olds © Girlguiding 2016

2 irls will run one at a time and when they G get back to the group, the next girl can go.

Top tip:

s the girls run the race, you’ll need to be A on hand to help the team with the tokens, using the tokens as guidelines for what help you give them. You may find that the Leader wishes to help or observe the girls too.

If you only have clear sticky tape available to you, make sure you stick some brightly coloured sticky notes on to the tape so people can see it.

I f you can, make sure everyone finishes the race, whether they’re on the team with tokens or not!

Check with the Leader if any of the girls in the unit have any additional needs, and how you might adapt this activity to include them. Having someone in the group with a disability doesn’t necessarily mean that you can’t do this activity or they should be left out. Instead, talk with the Leader and the girl about ways this activity could be changed to suit their needs. Girlguiding’s RECIPES for adapting games and activities can help with thinking about changes you might need to make: www.girlguiding.org.uk

Ask the group: Who won the race? id everyone complete the race? D (“Yes!”: This shows you don’t need all the resilience skills to be able to overcome challenges, but they do help! Or “No!”: If you got to an obstacle and got stuck, then that shows why resilience skills are really important!)

When we are facing difficult challenges, it really helps if we have a range of skills and resources to deal with them. And when we ask for help from our friends it can make overcoming life’s obstacles a lot easier”.

3 Step 3: Building my resilience Now you’ve had some fun exploring the concept of resilience and how it works, you’re going to help the girls build their resilience. There are five different techniques that you can introduce to the group, but you will only have time for four activities. As different people build their resilience in different ways, it’s important that you choose four different techniques to explore with the group so that you give them the best possible introduction to resilience.

Technique

Understanding emotions and limits

(Knowing when things might feel too much for us)

Positive thinking and problem solving

(Seeing problems as chances to learn and grow)

Self-calming

Identifying support networks

(Knowing who to go to when things get difficult)

Recognising strengths and achievements

(Remembering what we’re good at)

(Comforting ourselves when things get difficult)

Choose four activities from this section from four different resilience-building techniques.

Here’s how you can introduce this section to the group: Resilience is something we can develop and learn. Everyone is unique and builds their resilience in different ways, and the best way to do that is through practising a range of techniques. We’re now going to try four different techniques.”

Think Resilient Activity Book for 7-25 year olds © Girlguiding 2016

3 Understanding emotions and limits Knowing when things might feel too much for us This section is about understanding your emotions and knowing your limits. The activities encourage girls to question the way they react to situations in life, asking them to think about how they can manage their emotions and make themselves feel better.

Activity guide Activity name

Section

Method

Emotions bucket

Active

When I am… I…

Role play

Coping stepping stones

Active

My responses

Discursive – some action

3 Emotions bucket To recognise that emotions can build up and become overwhelming. To explore techniques for proactively managing emotions 10-15 minutes Bucket, washing up bowl or similar Bottles of water (enough to make the bucket overflow) An outside space or somewhere inside that can get wet

Newspaper or towels

Plastic cups or mugs (If you can’t find a space to get wet then you could substitute the water for lego bricks, bean bags etc)

What to do S et out a bucket in the middle of the room, with newspaper or a towel around or underneath it. Put big bottles full of water around the bucket. sk the Brownies to get into a circle around A the bucket.

One of the things we can do to build our resilience is to pay attention to our emotions. Just take a moment to think about all the different things in your life which make you feel an emotion. Things that make you feel worried, angry, sad, excited, nervous etc.”

ive each girl in the group a turn to come G forward and pour some water into the bucket to represent the emotion they are thinking about. ell the girls that they are free to share what T they are thinking about with the group, but only if they want to. eep going around until the bucket fills K up and begins to spill over. The girls will probably laugh as this makes a mess. Go along with it and encourage a few more girls to continue to pour their ‘emotion’ in and make it overflow even more.

Just like the bucket, our minds sometimes get so full of the different emotions we are feeling they we struggle to keep control of them. We might cry or shout or scream or we might actually go a bit quiet when our emotions get too much.” sk the Brownies to think of times when they A have felt their emotions were overflowing. Would anyone like to share what they are thinking of? s Brownies share their examples, you A can get them thinking about the connection between body and mind. Ask the group: ow did the emotions make you H feel physically? ere you feeling tired as well? Did W that make things worse? Were you hungry at the time?

So, we can see that when we have lots of emotions building up, we should do something before they overflow and make us feel bad.”

Think Resilient Activity Book for 7-25 year olds © Girlguiding 2016

3 and around plastic cups and explain H that each one is something they can do to manage their emotions and make their minds and bodies feel better. Give them a short time to think an action that would help them. sk each Brownie in turn to take some water A out of the bucket with their cup, explaining what their action is as they do it. Effective things that they could do include:

o this until every Brownie has had a turn D and the bucket is no longer overflowing.

So, by noticing when our emotions are building up and doing some of these actions to make us feel better we can stop ourselves from becoming overwhelmed by our feelings. And if we can do that then we will become more resilient!

Talking to a trusted adult. Doing some exercise. Getting more sleep. Eating more healthily. Spending time doing something they love. Note: The YoungMinds Resilience Framework developed by Professor Angie Hart suggests that we are more resilient when we have enough sleep, good food, and a secure and safe home. The Brownies might not automatically consider how looking after their bodies through sleeping, eating healthily and doing exercise could help them to manage their emotions and you might need to ask open questions to prompt this.

3 When I am… I… To recognise that emotions can build up and become overwhelming. To explore techniques for proactively managing emotions 10 minutes Nothing

What to do sk everyone to get to their feet and spread A out so they have some space around them.

Now, you’re going to practise your acting! I’m going to say a situation that could happen in your life. What I’d like you to do is to act out how you think you would feel if it happened to you. Do you think you’d feel sad, happy, worried, frustrated, angry? Show us with your faces and your bodies.” all out each scenario in turn, pausing after C each one to give the girls some time to act out the emotions. Point out one or two particularly creative ones and ask the rest of the group to guess what emotions their friends are acting out. Or if any participants are reluctant to get involved, adapt the activity so only some act out the emotion while others identify what they are feeling.

ou suspect that your sister has sneaked Y into your room and borrowed your new book that you haven’t even read yet! ou and your best friend are having a Y huge argument and she hasn’t spoken to you for days. You’re setting off on holiday to Florida! Your uncle is due to have an operation. ou’ve practised and practised but you Y still can’t remember the words to your favourite song. our beloved family cat has been very ill Y and the vet had to put him to sleep. Ask the Brownies to sit down in a circle.

So, you’ll have seen that not all of us feel the same emotions in the same scenario – we’re different and that’s what makes us special. You acted out one emotion for each of those scenarios but often we can feel lots of different emotions at the same time. For example, when you think your sister has pinched your book you might feel angry at her, frustrated that you won’t get a chance to read the book first, but you will also still love your sister! Feeling all of those different things at once can be overwhelming but we can build our resilience by actively doing something to help ourselves feel better.”

ou’ve fallen over and broken your leg so you Y can’t do your favourite sport anymore. ou tried really hard and got 10 out of 10 on Y your test.

Think Resilient Activity Book for 7-25 year olds © Girlguiding 2016

3 o over each scenario but this time ask the G Brownies what they could do to feel better in these situations, eg if you’ve fallen over and broken your leg so you can’t do your favourite sport anymore, you could do something else you enjoy like playing video games at home with your family or friends.

Everyone has times when they feel lots of complicated emotions. If, like we just did, you think about the sorts of situations that might make you feel sad, angry or frustrated then when you find yourself in that situation you’ll be ready to do something positive about it. That might be about solving the problem, or just about distracting yourself, or taking care of your body and mind. It’s all about finding out what works for you.”

3 Coping stepping stones To recognise that emotions can build up and become overwhelming. To explore techniques for managing emotions 15-20 minutes Slips of paper Pens Bucket or box or basket or similar

What to do sk the girls to make a circle with you A standing in the middle.

One of the ways we can build our resilience is to take action to manage our emotions when our feelings build up and start to become overwhelming. The first step is to reflect on what exactly we are feeling and why.” sk them to think about all the emotions A that they have felt that day and why they think they felt them.

I f any of the girls are uncomfortable doing this, then ask them to imagine a character from their favourite TV programme and do the exercise from their perspective. ach girl should now place her slip of paper E in the box in the middle and get into a group with at least two other girls.

You’ve each put one emotion into the box, but of course we hardly ever just feel one emotion at once. It’s much more common to feel lots of different emotions at the same time and have to cope with everything that’s in the box! When that happens it can be pretty overwhelming. The idea of this exercise is to give some thought to what kinds of things make us feel overwhelmed, so we can plan in advance what to do to make ourselves feel better.” S tand in the middle of the room – you are going to be the destination in the next steps of the activity. sk the girls to work together as a group. A Each group should come to the centre and pick out a piece of paper from the box.

and out paper and pens. Ask each girl to H write the most important emotion she felt that day on one side of the paper, and write the reason she felt that emotion on the back of the paper.

Example: You feel worried about your exams because you haven’t revised enough. Write the feeling “Worry” on the front and the reason “I haven’t revised” on the back.

Think Resilient Activity Book for 7-25 year olds © Girlguiding 2016

3 s a team, they will need to think what A actions they could take to make themselves feel better if they were in that situation. ach member of the group must have E one action and together they will create ‘stepping stones’ from the outside of the circle, where the feeling is overwhelming, to the centre of the circle where they have it under control. Note: The Resilience Framework suggests that we are more resilient when we have enough sleep, good food, and a secure and safe home. The Guides and members of The Senior Section might not automatically consider how looking after their bodies through sleeping, eating healthily and doing exercise could help them to manage their emotions and you might need to ask open questions to prompt this. nce they have enough actions for every O member of the group they should join hands and make a path to you in the centre.

Each set of ‘stepping stones’ will be unique as everyone uses different ways to make themselves feel better and manage their emotions. Building resilience is all about finding out what works for you.” sk each group to choose another feeling A from the box and repeat the exercise until you have run out of time.

We’ve heard lots of different ideas for the actions we can take when we’re feeling overwhelmed. These are our ‘coping mechanisms’ – the tools we have to help ourselves deal with all the emotions we might be feeling. Next time you feel yourself getting overwhelmed, try to take a step back and remember some of these tools and see if they’ll work for you.”

nce all groups have made one path ask O each one in turn to share the feeling and the reason, and then the actions they would take to manage that emotion.

3 My responses To recognise that emotions can build up and become overwhelming. To explore techniques for managing emotions 15-20 minutes

hile the girls are doing this you could add W some challenging situations into the clock yourself. For example: Got given detention. ound out that someone has been F spreading rumours about me. Missed the bus to work. Found out a friend is seriously ill.

12 chairs Numbers 1 to 12 written on A4 paper Tape Sticky notes Pens

What to do S et up a circle of 12 chairs and tape a number label to each chair so that they make up the hours on a clock.

One of the ways we can build our resilience is to spend some time thinking about how we might react to a challenging situation. This way, we can plan to help ourselves cope with those situations and take action to feel better when our emotions could overwhelm us.” Give some sticky notes and pens to each girl. sk them to move around the points of the A clock and write on a sticky note something that has happened to them at that time of day in the last week. Then stick it on the chair.

issed a deadline at school that I didn’t M know about. ake sure that each chair has a number of M challenging situations on it, some added by you and some by the girls. umber the participants from 1 to 12 and N ask them to head to the chair represented by their number and select the most challenging situation they can find. If it is a very large group you could ask each number group to split into two or more pairs to make this easier. Each group should discuss: What situation have they picked up? hat do they think their emotional W reaction would be? hat could they do to make themselves W feel better throughout this situation? ive them a minute to do this and then ask G them to put the situations back on the chair before moving to another point on the clock and repeating the activity. o make this more unpredictable you T could make the moving instructions more complicated like ‘take 5 away from your number and move there’ or ‘move three steps forwards around the clock’. eep going until you have one minute K left then ask the participants to sit down in a circle.

Think Resilient Activity Book for 7-25 year olds © Girlguiding 2016

3 So, in your groups you’ll have reflected on which situations might make you feel some challenging emotions, and you’ve come up with lots of different ideas for the actions you can take when you’re feeling overwhelmed. These are our ‘coping mechanisms’ – the tools we have to help ourselves deal with all the emotions we might be feeling. Next time you feel yourself getting overwhelmed, try to take a step back and remember some of these tools and see if they’ll work for you.”

6 27

3 Positive thinking and problem-solving Seeing problems as positive chances to learn and grow This section is about positive thinking and problem-solving. By being able to think through the different positive things they could do when they’re feeling stressed, girls may be able to deal with stressful or challenging situations more effectively. Awareness of the different coping mechanisms will also help them to understand what different steps they could take to manage or solve the situation and think about what works best for them individually.

Activity guide Activity name What can I control?

Section

Method Active

Balloon worries Problem scenarios Agony aunt Problem scenarios Stress-busting Problem scenarios

Think Resilient Activity Book for 7-25 year olds © Girlguiding 2016

3 What can I control? To identify ways to look positively at challenging situations and minimise the negative effects of them

ive the following examples as some of G the day-to-day challenges that they might experience: The weather How much homework I have to do

20 minutes Two balls of string Two pieces of A4 paper Pens Sticky notes Bean bag or lump of sticky tack

What to do ith the two balls of string, make one W big circle on the floor of around 360cm circumference and a smaller one of around 150cm. This makes a target (a circle inside another circle) out of the two pieces of string. You’ll need to expand the inner circle later. se the paper to make two signs for each U of the circles. Label the inner circle “What I can control” and the outer circle “What I can’t control”.

To help build our resilience, we should try to look positively at difficult or challenging things that are happening in our lives. While sometimes there are things we can’t control, there are often steps we can take to reduce the impact of these challenging situations on our lives.”

Someone is spreading rumours about you he train is delayed and you’re late for an T important appointment sk the group to come up with more A examples, and as they share their ideas, write each challenge on a new sticky note. Then go through the challenges, asking the group whether the sticky notes should be stuck in the ‘What I can control’ circle or the ‘What I can’t control’ circle. For some of the more complicated challenges, you can question those they do have some control over by asking “Who is in control of that?” Continue this until you’ve arranged all the challenges in the two circles.

It’s hard to deal with these tough issues when we feel like we have very little control over them, but we can often take some positive and proactive steps to make those issues feel less stressful. By coming up with solutions that will help you manage these situations, you can change the way you react to the day-to-day things in your life which might get you down or frustrate you.” sk the group to stand in a ring around the A target on the floor. Using a bean bag or lump of sticky tack, get one volunteer at a time to aim for one of the sticky notes in the outer ‘What I can’t control’ circle. They should read out the challenging situation closest to where it lands.

Think Resilient Activity Book for 7-25 year olds © Girlguiding 2016

3 Can you think of an action you could take to make this challenge feel less stressful? You don’t need to solve the whole problem, just think of ways you can improve the situation or take the first steps towards a solution.”

Examples of solutions from the above scenarios: What you cannot control: the weather What you can control: bringing an umbrella What you cannot control: How much homework I have to do What you can control: What other commitments you have on that time

ncourage the group to come up multiple E different potential solutions together. Once the group has come up with some ideas, move the sticky to the smaller ‘What I can control’ circle. As you add more sticky notes, you’ll need to make the inner circle bigger by moving the string. epeat until you have read out all the sticky R notes and as many as possible are now inside the ‘circle of control’.

We can’t always control every situation we find ourselves in, but in taking small steps we can always do something to help ourselves manage the situation. By taking positive action on the things you can control, you minimise the impact of things you can’t control.”

What you cannot control: Someone is spreading rumours about you What you can control: How you react to those rumours What you cannot control: I have to do exams What you can control: How much revision I do/joining a study group/ getting a revision guide.

Can contro l

ntrol Can’t co

3 Balloon worries To identify ways to look positively at challenging situations and minimise the negative effects of them 15 minutes Balloons for each participant Copies of each scenario you’re using (see pages 34-35)

hiteboard marker pens (check the W ink doesn’t smudge off the balloon)

Scissors

What to do

sk the unit: do you think it’s possible to A hold all the balloons by yourself? sk for a volunteer. Get them into the A middle of the circle and ask them to try as many ways as possible to hold all the balloons – encourage them to try lying down, using their hands, arms and legs. Encourage them to be creative and a bit silly! Remember that laughing with your friends can be one of the best ways to make your worries seem smaller! S plit the unit into small groups – these can be Sixes or Patrols if they’re in Brownies or Guides. Each participant needs to take a balloon. and one scenario from the next page to H each group. If you need more scenarios, you can also use the ones from the ‘Agony aunt’ activity on pages 38-39.

One resilience skill we can build is being able to think about challenging situations in a positive way. We can do this by taking different steps to make a challenging situation easier to handle.” sk everyone to sit in a circle and hand out A a balloon to each participant. Ask everyone to blow up their balloon and tie it off at the end. You may need to help some of them do this. Get everyone to place their balloons on the floor in the middle of the circle.

Each balloon represents a tough situation that you could face in your life. Often, we may find that we’re dealing with lots of challenging situations all at once and that can be really difficult to handle! One of the ways you can manage feelings of stress is to figure out what steps you can take to manage how these situations affect you.”

Think Resilient Activity Book for 7-25 year olds © Girlguiding 2016

3 sk the girls to read the scenario in their A groups and to consider what positive actions they could take to improve the situation? If the girls can’t think of steps they could take themselves, ask them to identify people they could go to for help. nce they’ve agreed on some steps they O could take to manage the situation, the groups need to write the solutions on each of the balloons.

Example scenario: My friends took a picture of me and I really, really don’t like it. They keep tagging me in it online and they all have copies of it. It seems like I can’t get away from the photo and it makes me feel really embarrassed and unhappy with myself. The whole thing is starting to feel like everyone is picking on me. Possible solution steps (each to be written on a balloon): Talk to a trusted adult Untag it Talk to the friend Report it to Facebook fter around five minutes, stop the groups A and ask them to share with the wider unit what the scenario was and the steps the group came up with to manage the situation. sk the unit: can you think of anything else A you could have done?

3 Balloon worries continued nce a group has finished sharing their O ideas, they can snip or pierce the end of the balloon (as close to the knot as possible!) and watch as it flies away. o through each small group until G they’ve all spoken and all the balloons have been deflated. sk the group: is it possible to hold all the A balloons now? sk for a volunteer to collect the balloon A pieces and try to hold the writing.

By looking positively at the problems we face, and thinking of steps we can take, we can make our problems easier to handle. Changing the way we think about problems in this way can build our resilience. Don’t forget that one of the steps might be to go to someone you trust for support or help.”

Problem scenarios for Brownies: 1. My mum and dad have just had a new baby. They keep asking me to do things I don’t want to do or know how to do to help out. I feel like I’m being forgotten about because of the new baby. 2. I keep getting picked on by an older girl at school. Every time I tell someone, she stops for a little while and it gets worse again later. I’ve stopped talking about it because nobody can help me. 3. M y friend told me a worrying secret, which is really upsetting me. I want to be a good friend and keep her secret, but I think she needs help.

Top tip: The colours of the balloons and pens matter! Use lighter balloons where possible and make sure to use whiteboard markers rather than flipchart markers or they might rub off. Try and be environmentally friendly and use biodegradable balloons if you can. If anyone has a latex allergy, paper bags stuffed with old newspaper could work as an alternative. Please recycle them afterwards.

Think Resilient Activity Book for 7-25 year olds © Girlguiding 2016

3 Problem scenarios for Guides: 1. I moved to a different school last month and have joined a lot of new clubs to help make friends. It’s a great way to get to know new people. I’m doing a few different things I like, and then a few things my parents say I need to do. Now my homework has got much harder and I’m struggling to keep up with the workload. 2. My friend is trying to push me out of our friendship group. She keeps arranging things without me and then I find out about it the next week. She’s even got a few people to stop hanging around with me at school by telling me that I am too “stuck up”. I’m feeling more and more left out. 3. My friends took a picture of me and I really, really don’t like it. They keep tagging me in it online and they all have copies of it. It seems like I can’t get away from the photo and it makes me feel really embarrassed and unhappy with myself. The whole thing is starting to feel like everyone is picking on me.

Problem scenarios for The Senior Section: 1. I ’ve just joined a new social network and people keep on sending me images I don’t want to see. I feel really uncomfortable seeing them, but don’t want to leave the social network all my friends are on. 2. I ’ve moved out of home into a new area and been feeling really lonely. It’s a struggle to meet new people while balancing work, my partner, looking after the flat, and everything else we have to do just to survive. I don’t have any friends here and feel like I’m over-relying on my partner to support me. 3. I ’ve been trying really hard to find work since I finished uni, but I’ve been struggling. It’s been a few months and I’ve gone on jobseekers’. The people at the centre make me feel horrible and keep suggesting jobs which I’m overqualified for. I just seem to be underqualified for everything else!

4. M y parents are divorcing at the moment. My mum moved out and she has a new flat which only has one bedroom, and she’s moved quite far away. I really miss her. We won’t see each other until next month and then there’s nothing planned in after that.

Note: Additional scenarios can be taken from the ‘Agony aunt’ activity if needed.

3 Agony aunt To identify ways to look positively at challenging situations and minimise the negative effects of them

and out a different problem from pages H 38-39 to each group with pens and paper. Encourage the group to discuss what steps they’d advise the letter-writer to take. Ask the groups to consider:

15-20 minutes Pens Paper

Scenarios

Envelopes (optional)

What to do

I f not, what steps can the letter-writer take that will help them the most? ow can they break down the steps for H the letter-writer to make the approach easier to follow? nce the group has agreed on the advice, O tell them to write to the letter-writer, breaking down the solution they’ve chosen into clear steps.

sk the girls to get into small groups. A This can be Sixes for Brownies, and Patrols for Guides.

nce the groups have completed the letter, O ask them to feed back to everyone else by reading out the scenarios and their letters.

Everyone has been hired by a school/university/local newspaper to become an ‘agony aunt’. An agony aunt is someone who gives advice and support to people who write to them with the difficult situations they’re facing in life.

hile the groups are feeding back, ask them W the following questions:

In your groups, you’re going to help people who have written in to you about a problem in their life. This solution needs to be as useful to the letter-writer as possible, by being non-judgemental and giving them the help they need to deal with their problem. To do this, the advice you suggest needs to be broken down into easy-to-complete and logical steps.”

an any of the approaches they’re C discussing help the letter-writer solve the problem completely?

Did they solve the whole problem? I f not, what were the steps that they advised the letter-writer to take? hy did they decide that was the W approach that worked best?

Problems aren’t always solvable in one go. Instead, it’s easier to break them down into smaller parts and take the first step towards a solution. We can do this for ourselves and our problems, too. When you’re facing a problem, you can become your own agony aunt. Take some time now to think about a problem you’re facing in your life – this can be as big or small as you like.”

Think Resilient Activity Book for 7-25 year olds © Girlguiding 2016

3 ive the participants a few moments to think G of a problem they’re dealing with. If they want to, they can write it down, but some of the participants may rather keep this private.

What would you like the outcome to be? The outcome may take a few steps, so think about what first steps you could take to improve that situation. If you can’t think about the steps, think about who you can go to for support or advice.” sk the participants if anyone would like to A share their problems and solutions. You may find they would rather not share this, so be sensitive to this.

Top tip: Given the wide age-ranges in these groups, make sure that you use an age-appropriate scenario for the participants. You should discuss this with the Leader beforehand.

3 Agony aunt continued Scenarios for ‘Agony aunt’ activity Scenario 1 Brownies – in the unit

Scenario 4 Guides – at school

Dear Agony Aunt,

At school, I always have things written on green paper to make sure I can read things. At Brownies, Brown Owl gives me white paper and all the words look confusing. I can’t read anything on it. It’s hard to keep up with what we’re doing.

Every day I have so much to do – homework, my after-school job, choosing A-levels and my swimming training. My problem is that I’m finding English really hard and I’m worried that I’m not going to do well in my exams. I don’t have time for extra study. How can I bring my grade up again and pass my English exams?

Can you help me? Anisha

Scenario 2 Brownies – at school Dear Agony Aunt, I looked at lots of secondary schools recently and I really want to go to one of them. My parents really loved another one which I didn’t like. I don’t know how to tell them what I think about the school they have chosen for me. What should I say? Beanna

Scenario 3 Brownies – at school Dear Agony Aunt,

Thanks! Brittany

Scenario 5 Guides and young members of The Senior Section – at school/ making friends Dear Agony Aunt, I’ve just moved to a new school and am finding it really hard to make friends. Everyone already knows one another and have their own lives going on. It makes me feel really worried to start conversations with new people. What should I do? From, Iva

I’m finding maths really hard. My brother was brilliant at it when he was my age. Yesterday, my teacher told me that I’m not as good as him. It made me feel really bad about myself. How can I be better at maths? Please help, Eunjoo

Think Resilient Activity Book for 7-25 year olds © Girlguiding 2016

Scenario 6 Members of The Senior Section – University

Scenario 8 Members of The Senior Section Work

Dear Agony Aunt,

I’m living at university in a shared house with three of my friends. It was great at first and we had house parties, fun and lots of laughing.

I’ve been working in data entry and have realised that someone has been inputting things incorrectly. I don’t think it’s me – I keep trying to double-check everything I do to make sure. I’m worried that my boss will see these mistakes and I’ll get into trouble, but at the same time, I don’t want to point the finger at anyone else.

We’ve been living together for three months now, and our first electricity bill has just come through. One of them isn’t paying their share of the bill – they say that they don’t use as much as the rest of us and shouldn’t have to pay a full quarter of the cost. What should I do? Thanks, Angelique

Please help! Sandra

Scenario 9 Members of The Senior Section Work Dear Agony Aunt,

Scenario 7 Members of The Senior Section – University Dear Agony Aunt, I’m worried about my friend at university. He’s having a lot of fun, but never takes anything seriously. He goes out every night, rarely gets up before 2pm and is missing all his lectures. I think he is going to get chucked out of his course.

My friend and I are planning to travel in Europe together next summer. We’ve been saving up for ages and know where we want to go. Only now she has a boyfriend and he wants to come along, too. I’m not happy that he’s joining so late in the day and I want to say he can’t come, but don’t want the trip to be cancelled. What should I do? Thanks, Zeena

What can I do to help him? Best wishes, Lila

3 Stress-busting To encourage participants to critically think about which techniques they could employ in challenging situations 10-15 minutes Pens Sticky notes Paper Tape or sticky tack Hat or other container

What to do Gather the participants into one large group.

We’re going to look into some of the ways that we can cope more positively with feeling stressed.” Ask the group: What does it feel like to be stressed? ow does it affect your body and your H emotions? Does everyone agree?

ake sure you highlight that everyone feels M stress in different ways – it is a personal thing and the girls need to work out how they react in stressful situations. This will help them realise when they are feeling stressed and when they might need to consider ways to cope.

If you know different ways to cope with stress, then when a difficult situation comes along you’ll have the right tools to be able to manage the situation and not let it affect you so badly.” sk the whole group: what are the different A ways someone might cope with stress? s the girls come up with ideas, ask some A volunteers to write the ideas on pieces of paper. Stick these around the room. Make sure you include “Do something else” as an option for people who may not want to use the other coping mechanisms that have been suggested by the group. ow tell the group that everyone, silently N and on their own, needs to come up with a scenario that might make someone feel stressed (eg they have too much to do at work/too much revision). Each of them need to write these on a sticky note, fold it and then put it into a hat or some other container. nce everyone has put something in, give O the scenarios a good mix. Then head back round the participants and let them choose a scenario to read. They should then decide and move the sticky note next to the coping technique they think would work best to cope with that scenario.

Think Resilient Activity Book for 7-25 year olds © Girlguiding 2016

3 hen everyone has chosen their coping W mechanisms by moving their sticky note, give the group a couple of minutes to quietly walk around round and see where people posted the scenarios. sk the group to share with each other: A Are the coping mechanisms the ones you would choose if you were experiencing that scenario? What would you choose instead?

Just as everyone deals with stress differently, we also all have different ways of coping with stress. This can be a very personal thing, and sometimes what works best for each of us can depend on the situation.â&#x20AC;?

Note: There are a number of different coping techniques which could be employed in this activity: S elf-care techniques (having a bath; having a duvet day; taking the time to look after yourself) xercise (going for a walk; to the gym; E taking a class with friends) Seeking support from friends and family Meditating njoying your interests or trying E something new (going for a swim; baking; reading)

3 Self-calming Comforting ourselves when things get difficult This section is about self-calming. Between school, hobbies, families and jobs, girls’ lives are extremely busy, and balancing all of these can leave us feeling stressed and at times quite anxious. One way to gain a bit of calm perspective is to take a few minutes to achieve a positive mind-body balance, and meditation or mindfulness exercises are a good way to do this.

Activity guide Activity name

Section

Method

Directed meditation Meditation/ Mindfulness Breathing techniques Meditation/ Mindfulness Appreciation meditation Meditation/ Mindfulness Focus Meditation/ Mindfulness

Think Resilient Activity Book for 7-25 year olds © Girlguiding 2016

3 Directed meditation To introduce the girls to a mediation technique that will help them to manage their emotions 10 minutes Relaxing music (optional)

What to do et the girls to spread out across the space G you’re using. If you’re using music, start the tracks you’ve chosen. Ask everyone to sit down and if they’re comfortable, close their eyes (if they’re not comfortable with this, encourage them to sit quietly).

One of the tools we can use to build our resilience is ‘selfcalming’. That means being able to calm our minds and bodies when we’re feeling lots of complicated emotions. This can help us to react better when things are challenging or we’re feeling overwhelmed. Today, we are going to try a meditation exercise to create an ‘anchor’. An anchor is a special place in our minds that we can remember and imagine whenever we need to feel calmer.” ake them through the meditation narrative T below. Make sure you follow the script below and use a low, calm voice and a slow, steady pace:

Let any tension go, and relax your shoulders until they are loose. Become aware of your breathing and begin to slow it down, by saying to yourself, ‘slowly breathe in, slowly breathe out, slowly breathe in, slowly breathe out.’ Concentrate on my voice as you think of the space you are in. Feel yourself in this quiet space. Now build a wall around your space. See the wall in your mind. It is a high strong wall.” Pause for five seconds.

In the wall there is a secret door; it is painted in your favourite colour. Slowly open the door: behind it is a safe and secret place which feels warm and inviting.” Pause for five seconds.

Enter through the door, making sure that you shut the door behind you. Look around your space and find something you would like to sit or lie on; a bed, a sofa, a soft rug, maybe some smooth grass, some warm white sand. Pick where you want to sit and head over to it.” Pause for five seconds.

As you sit down on the comfortable and soft surface you can feel yourself relax. You let yourself sink into the surface. As you sink, your whole body becomes light, calm and peaceful.” Pause for five seconds.

Think Resilient Activity Book for 7-25 year olds © Girlguiding 2016

3 As you’re sitting and relaxing, you notice a light breeze blowing. It gently moves your hair and touches your face. You are at a perfect temperature and feel calm and peaceful.” Pause for five seconds.

Take a deep breath as the breeze gently blows around you. You may find yourself drifting off in this space, and that’s ok. You feel relaxed and still and safe. You’re enjoying sitting in this place and you feel yourself getting lighter and lighter as you relax more and more.” llow the girls to remain quiet and peaceful A for two or three minutes. Then slowly turn the music down as you say the following:

Note: It’s best to do this activity only if you’re really confident with it. Make sure that you use a low, calming voice when running this activity. The Leader of the unit can repeat this activity to help girls practise using their anchor.

Top tip: We recommend using this activity at the end of your Think Resilient session, as it can be hard to get Brownies to sit still! If the group enjoyed this activity, direct the Leader to the many free apps on offer so they can continue building this technique, for example: Headspace – www.headspace.com – free directed meditations and breathing for older girls Smiling Mind – www.smilingmind.com.au – age-appropriate meditations for children, teens and adults

Get ready now to leave your space and the gentle breeze. In your mind, you will gently stir and stretch your body. When you’re ready, you will picture yourself rising up from whether you’re sitting or lying and stretch your body again. You make your way to the secret door, open it, and let yourself out, shutting the door behind you. As you listen to my voice, you are slowly bringing yourself back to this room. Stretch your body and then relax. As I begin to count slowly to five, very slowly open your eyes.” Count to five.

Now stand up, stretch your muscles and relax.”

3 Breathing techniques To introduce the girls to a mediation technique that will help them to manage their emotions 5-10 minutes

Now, close your eyes and concentrate on your breathing.” Note: For Brownies, try using “Breathe in for three and out for four” – this is easier for them to achieve.

Malteasers

reathe in deeply for B five seconds

What to do One of the tools we can use to build our resilience is ‘selfcalming’. That means being able to calm our minds and bodies when we’re feeling lots of complicated emotions. This can help us to react better when things are challenging or we’re feeling overwhelmed. When we feel overwhelmed, we can breathe in too much oxygen, and it can make us feel light-headed and unwell. By breathing out for longer than we breathe in, we can reduce the amount of oxygen in our bodies and help us to feel better. We’re going to try an activity to help us to control our breathing when we’re feeling overwhelmed.” sk the group to lie down on their back and A give them some time to settle and quieten down. Give them some time to get comfortable.

reathe out deeply for B six seconds e’re going to repeat this a W few times – so, breathe in. Now breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out I magine that each thought that comes to you while you’re focusing on your breathing is a cloud which appears above your head s you breathe in, notice A the cloud s you breathe out, let the A cloud dissolve.” Repeat for a few minutes. sk the girls to open their eyes again and, A when they’re ready, to sit up. Ask the group: How do you feel now? hen might you use this technique? W (eg when you’re feeling upset, or anxious or panicky)

Think Resilient Activity Book for 7-25 year olds © Girlguiding 2016

3 You can use this technique whenever you might feel overwhelmed or anxious and need some time to order your emotions. Practising breathing like this regularly will help you to remember how to do it when things are tough. We’re going to practise this technique now using Malteasers by lying on our back and blowing the Malteasers into the air.”

eave the girls to practise doing this for L a few minutes before moving on to the next activity. When you finish, let them eat the Malteasers! Note: Blowing a piece of card into the air can work as an alternative if girls cannot eat chocolate. If this is the case, do this for the whole unit, rather than just one girl.

ive everyone a few Malteasers each to try G with, in case they drop them on the floor. Ask the girls not to eat the Malteasers just yet! Get everyone to lie back down on the floor, and place the Malteasers over their closed mouths. When they’re ready, get the girls to practise blowing the Malteasers into the air – see who can blow out the longest and keep it floating, or who can make the Malteaser go the highest?

3 Appreciation meditation To give the girls an opportunity to appreciate the small things in life. To gain a sense of calm through thinking about the present, not the future or past 5-10 minutes Nothing

What to do One of the tools we can use to build our resilience is ‘selfcalming’. That means being able to calm our minds and bodies when we’re feeling lots of complicated emotions. This can help us to react better when things are challenging or we’re feeling overwhelmed. One way to do this is to focus entirely on the present.” sk the girls to spread out across the A space and to sit or lie down. When they’re comfortable, ask them to close their eyes and to relax. Once everyone has settled, in a calm voice start the following reflection activity.

Taking time out of our busy days and thinking about the things that make us feel good can really calm us down. When you’re comfortable, start thinking about the good things that you experience day-to-day that usually go unnoticed or unappreciated. These can be objects, people, things that have happened to you and so on. As you filter through the day, try to pull out five things in your lives that you really appreciate.” ell the group you’re giving them a few T minutes to think and reflect. As the time lapses, tell them when they’ve got a minute or so left so they can start summing up their five points.

As you reflect on your five things, think how your life would be like without those things. How do they benefit your life and the lives of others?” ive the group a final minute or so to reflect G on this. When the minute is over, ask the group to open their eyes and to share their thoughts by asking the following: ow do you feel after reflecting on the H things you appreciate? hen might you use this technique? W (eg when you’re feeling upset, or anxious or panicky.)

3 Focus To introduce the girls to a mindfulness technique that will help them manage their emotions 10 minutes One small, edible item – a raisin, boiled sweet or other – per participant

What to do One of the tools we can use to build our resilience is ‘selfcalming’. That means being able to calm our minds and bodies when we’re feeling lots of complicated emotions. This can help us to react better when things are challenging or we’re feeling overwhelmed. Self-calming approaches often use meditation or mindfulness, so today we’re going to practise mindfulness. Mindfulness is about being fully present in the moment – not worrying about the past or the future. By focusing on the moment we are in, rather than worrying about the past or the future, we can stop ourselves from feeling overwhelmed by worry or anxiety.”

sk the girls to sit down in a comfortable A place and close their eyes. Give them all a few moments to quieten down and settle. Ask them to hold out a hand. hile the girls have their eyes closed, give W each girl a small edible object each, but ask them not to eat it at this stage. Read out the script below, but make sure to alter it so that you use different language depending on what edible object you’re giving them. As you’re reading, make sure you use a calming voice and a slow, steady pace.

Close your eyes. Consider the object that you’re holding. Think about its weight, the feel of it in your hand, the texture of it against your skin. While you’re doing this, if any thoughts come to you that aren’t about this object, imagine them floating gently away. Concentrate on the object in your hand and picture it without opening your eyes. Start rolling the object about in your hand and feel the movement with your fingertips. Think about the size of the object, the temperature of it… put it to your nose and smell it. What does it smell like? Now put the object on your tongue… slowly roll it around in your mouth… now slowly chew on it – and eat it. Now start thinking about your surroundings. What is the temperature of the air, what sounds are happening, how does the floor feel beneath you? Once you’ve finished, open your eyes and take a moment to look about you.”

3 Ask the group: How do you feel now? hen might you use this technique? W (when you’re feeling upset, or anxious or panicky.) ow are you going to practise H this technique?

Note: Make sure you consider dietary requirements and the practicalities – will this object melt? You can add reflective or meditative music to help facilitate this activity. When you’re delivering this activity, consider the tone and speed of your voice to help make sure that you create the correct atmosphere.

3 Identifying support networks Knowing who to go to when things get difficult This section is about identifying support networks. Knowing who to approach to get support when things get difficult is an important part of being resilient. By identifying the positive relationships they already have, and who is there for them, girls can figure out who they’d turn to when they need help.

Activity guide Activity name

Section

Helping hand

Method Creative

Who is there for me? Active Building support networks

Written/ reflective

Being a support network Reflective/ physical

3 Helping hand To identify the support systems in place around them 15 minutes

s they do this you should move around the A room, checking they are following the task and helping girls to think of their sources of support. Examples you can use to support the girls: Brownie Leader

Coloured pens Decorating/craft things Paper – half a sheet of A4 for each girl Glue sticks

Other Brownies Mum/Dad ChildLine School teacher Friends Godparent Religious leader/authority

What to do It’s really important that we know who is there to support us when life gets tough. This is a resilience skill we can practise by thinking about who we could go to for help when things get difficult. We’re going to work out for each of you who the people are in your lives that can really help you out when things get tough and then we’re going to make something to help you remember them when you need them.”

Other family member (aunts, uncles etc)? nce everyone has finished, get their O attention and explain what they should do with their ‘helping hand’, as below.

You have made yourself a ‘helping hand’. You can use your helping hand in all sorts of situations to work out who you could go to for help. Keep it safe and use it when you’re feeling sad, upset, anxious, worried or overwhelmed to remind you of the people you could share your worries with and who will support you.”

ive out the pens and paper. Ask each G participant to draw around their hand on the paper. ell them to write the name of someone they T can go to for support when things are tough on each finger and, if there is time, decorate their hand with the pens or craft materials.

3 Who is there for me? To identify the support systems in place around them 10 minutes String/wool

What to do It’s really important that we know who is there to support us when life gets tough. This is a resilience skill we can practise by thinking about who we could go to for help when things get difficult. We’re going to work out for each of you who the people are in your lives that can really help you out when things get tough.” sk the participants to stand in a circle A around you. When the circle is ready, hold the end of the string in one hand, and the rest of the ball of string in the other.

I’m going to throw the ball of string to someone in the circle. When you catch it you need to tell us the name of someone who has helped you when you were feeling overwhelmed or tell us of a time when things were getting too much for you and what you did that

helped. When you’ve done that you can throw the ball of string to someone else but keep hold of the length of string so that you are still connected to the person who threw it to you. Please remember the guidelines we set at the start of our session for respecting each other and making this a safe space by not telling others outside of this room what has been shared.” hrow the string to one of the participants, T who should say the name of someone who has been there for them and what they did that helped. Then ask them to throw the ball to another person in the circle. nce every girl has had a turn show them O that they have a web of support around them and that there are lots of people they can turn to when they’re facing problems.

So, now you’ve thought about some different people you can go to when things are getting too much. This is your support network and knowing who they are is a key resilience skill. The next time you feel like you could use some help or support, think back to this activity or even do it again!”

3 Building support networks To identify the support systems in place around them 20 minutes Paper Pens

What to do Gather the participants into one large group.

One of the key tools which can help us become more resilient is by building a great network of friends, family and other people we trust who we can go to for support when things get tough. We call those people our ‘support network’. In this next activity, you are going to think about who is in your support network, then think about ways you could extend this network and make it even stronger.”

s they do this you should move around the A room, checking they are on task and helping girls to think of their sources of support. nce everyone has had a chance to draw O their own support network, hand out another coloured pen and ask them to get into pairs and help each other to think of ways they could build and extend their support network, for example, is there anyone on their partner’s list who they might be able to go to as well? They should add these into their support network map. nce they have had a chance to do this ask O a couple of the pairs if they are willing to share their maps and the things they think they could do to strengthen their networks.

So, now you’ve thought about the different people you can go to when things are getting too much, and the things you can do to build your support network and keep it strong. Building and maintaining a strong support network is a key resilience skill, so the next time you feel like you could use some help or support, refer to your map and ask for some support.”

Hand out paper and pen to each participant. sk the participants to draw a map of their A support network. This can be as simple or as elaborate as they like. It should show who is a part of their network, and could show the kinds of things they would turn to each person for support with.

3 Being a support network To identify who they can offer support to, and how they might be able to help build someone else’s resilience 10-15 minutes Nothing

What to do sk the girls to get into their groups. A This can be Sixes for Brownies, or Patrols for Guides. sk the girls to stand in a circle facing A each other.

Going through a challenging time on your own can be tough, and sometimes it’s difficult to see how you can solve a problem alone.” sk for a volunteer from one of the groups. A Challenge your volunteer to ‘sit down’ using nothing but themselves – they’re not allowed to sit on the floor, or on a chair, or any furniture. What can they think of? If they think of using someone else to help them, allow them to do so. If they can’t think of anything, tell them that’s ok and that this is the point of the activity.

Knowing who to approach to get support when things get difficult is an important part of being resilient. Everyone goes through challenging times, and everyone needs resilience. We, each of us, can also help someone else build their resilience by being part of their support network.” et the girls to think of people they know G who they could support in their day-today lives. This could be friends or family, neighbours, teachers, or other people in their community. When can they do to help when things get tough for that person? Perhaps they could simply be a ‘friendly ear’ when that person wants to talk. hen each girl has thought of one person, W they need to share their thoughts with the group, taking it in turns to speak.

Sharing problems can make things easier than dealing with them ourselves, and we often end up with solutions that we would never have thought of alone!” nce every girl has shared someone she can O support, ask them to make the circle really small, so that they’re as close to each other as they can get. Everyone in each group should then turn to their left, facing the back of the person in front of them. Each girl’s right shoulder should be in the centre of their small group circle.

3 hen everyone is facing left, ask the girls to W sit down, bending at the knees. If everyone is close enough, they should end up sitting on each other’s knees in a ‘trust circle’ and the whole construction should support itself. If the girls aren’t close enough, they will fall down, so you’ll need to ask them to start again!

Top tip: If your groups need a bigger challenge, ask them to try walking in their seated circles!

Offering support to people when you think they might need it will not only help them, but will also make you feel proud of yourself, which in turn builds your own resilience.”

3 Recognising strengths and achievements Remembering what we’re good at This section is about recognising our strengths and weaknesses. By encouraging participants to say positive things about their personality, strengths or achievements, they can slowly challenge the negative view they may have of themselves. This sense-check against negative self-talk can help give girls the opportunity to believe in their own strengths and abilities, helping build their resilience when dealing with challenging situations.

Activity guide Activity name Compliment tag!

Section

Method Game

Positive spinning Game Positive postcard Written Wear your affirmations

Creative

Note: The following activities help participants to consider their own successes, strengths and talents to build their confidence and self-esteem. This approach challenges negative self-image, and helps them to feel more resilient and capable in challenging situations. Each of the activities below reminds girls not to focus on how they look, because this can reinforce the ‘image myth’ that to be successful in life, people have to look a certain way. This ‘ideal look’, as determined by society, is a myth because it is impossible to achieve: images of celebrities are often digitally altered and retouched! Challenging the image myth gives girls the freedom to embrace themselves for who they are and can build self-esteem. As a facilitator, your role is to encourage each individual to focus on thinking about their positive characteristics, strengths and successes, not how they look. For more information on the image myth, see www.free-being-me.com

3 Top tip: If you use the technique ‘Remembering what we’re good at’ in your session, make sure that everyone’s achievements get recognised – from those who appear to be good at everything to those with very low self-esteem who sometimes find it difficult to believe they are good at anything.

3 Compliment tag! To provide each other with a ‘sensecheck’ of their self-image and help recognise their skills, strengths and abilities 10-15 minutes Nothing

What to do Being able to remember our successes, strengths and talents can increase our confidence because it helps us to feel good about what we have achieved. This in turn can increase our resilience by helping us believe in our own strengths and abilities when we cope with challenging situations. Sometimes it’s hard to do this for ourselves, so we’re going to play a game and compliment each other!” et the girls into small groups – this can G be Sixes for Brownies, and Patrols for Guides. Ask each group to sit in a small circle and explain that they’ll be giving each other compliments.

sk the group what sorts of compliments A they think they could give – make sure they include: S omething positive that they have done (eg they were kind to me when I was sad the other day). S omething that they have achieved (eg they are brilliant at drawing and they might have won a competition). S omething about them as a person (eg they are always really funny, which cheers everyone up).

Remember that the compliments shouldn’t be about the way we look, as this can put pressure on us to look a certain way. Instead, we can help each other be more resilient by understanding our own strengths, skills and abilities.” nce the girls understand what kind of O compliments they should be giving, one person needs to be ‘it’ – you can choose who that is in each group, or you can start with the Sixers if you’re with Brownies, or Patrol Leaders if you’re with Guides. xplain to the groups that they need to ‘tag’ E someone else in their group, but instead of tagging with their hands, the girls have to tag each other with a compliment.

3 he girl who is ‘it’ needs to pick someone T else in their small group by name, pay them a compliment as outlined above and then say ‘now you’re it’. The person who has received the compliment should thank them, and then pick someone else to pay a compliment to. The game continues until everyone has been paid some compliments. s the game progresses, head round the A groups and encourage the girls to make sure that everyone has been included equally in the game. After the game, ask the groups the following:

Now that you’ve had some practise paying each other compliments, you might feel more able to pay yourself some.” sk the groups: How will you practise giving A yourself compliments in the future? Note: This exercise will only work if the group know each other well and feel safe. Make sure that you check with the Leader about any group dynamics that might be challenging.

ow did it feel when you had a H compliment given to you? ow easy was it to give someone else H a compliment?

3 Positive spinning To practise saying positive things about themselves, which combats any internal negativity 10 minutes None

What to do sk for one volunteer from the group. Get A her to stand in the middle of the room, and everyone else to stand in a circle around her.

Sometimes people find it hard to believe positive things about themselves and easier to believe negative things. This ‘negativity bias’ means we need to work harder to remember positive things about ourselves. By being able to recognise our strengths and skills, we can grow our self-esteem and confidence, and this helps us to feel more capable when dealing with difficult situations.”

xplain to everyone in the circle that they E should think of some of their strengths and achievements. To help them you can ask them to think of: he strengths in their personality – what T they like about themselves. What they are proud of themselves for. Things they think they do well. emind them that they shouldn’t be focused R on how they look, as this can put pressure on them and others to look a certain way. ow explain to the group that the volunteer N in the middle of the circle will put her hand out to point. She needs to close her eyes and she should spin around until you shout ‘stop!’. nce she has stopped, the person she O is pointing to should share one of the things that makes them feel positive about themselves. nce that person has said something O positive about herself, she should step into the ring to be the spinner. Continue until every girl has said something positive about themselves. Note: This exercise will only work if the group know each other well and feel safe. Make sure that you check with the Leader about any group dynamics that might be challenging.

3 Positive postcard To practise saying positive things about themselves, which combats any internal negativity 10 minutes Two postcards for each member of the unit Pens

What to do Part of being resilient is being able to recognise and celebrate our talents and skills to grow our self-esteem, as we can use our strengths to deal with any challenges that come our way. Today, we’re going to do an exercise that will help us recognise the positive things about ourselves.” and out a postcard and a pen to each H participant, and encourage them to move away from each other to help them focus on their self-reflection. Give the group five minutes to write on the postcard:

s the participants are writing out their A postcards, walk around the room to make sure that you can answer any questions the participants have as they’re self-reflecting.

Sometimes people find it hard to believe positive things about themselves and easier to believe negative things. This is called ‘negativity bias’ and means we need to work harder to remember positive things about ourselves.” sk the participants to get into pairs. They A should take it in turns to read out some of these points to their partner, while the other person listens carefully to what is being said. If the girls hear their partner say something negative about themselves, encourage them to gently challenge their partner, and to help them come up with something positive instead. Examples may include comments on how they look, or reiterating negative thoughts eg ‘I normally always fail at maths tests, but this time I passed!’ could instead be reframed to ‘I worked really hard on my maths mock test, and I passed, so one of my strengths is that I don’t give up!’.

he strengths in their personality – what T they like about themselves. What they are proud of themselves for. Things they think they do welll.

3 nce each partner in the pair has had a O chance to read their postcards to each other, ask the Leader to collect the postcards from everyone. Explain to the group that their Leader will keep the cards confidential and will hand back the cards to them at some point in the future. ive girls the opportunity to opt out of giving G their cards in, if they so wish. Note: This will be challenging if the group donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know one another very well. Make sure that you check with the Leader about any group dynamics that might be challenging.

3 Wear your affirmations To practise thinking of positive points about themselves, which combats any internal negativity 15 minutes Old t-shirts for each girl T-shirt pens or non-permanent marker pens

What to do Before the session: he Leader will need to ask the girls to each T bring an old light-coloured t-shirt to the session. The girls may also wish to wear an older top underneath the t-shirt in case the marker seeps through. sk the Leaders to check if any of the girls A have sensitive skin.

During the session: Often, people find it hard to believe positive things about themselves and easier to believe negative things. This is called ‘negativity bias’ and means we need to work harder to remember the positives about ourselves. Part of being resilient is being able to recognise and celebrate our strengths to grow our self-esteem and confidence, as we can use them to overcome challenges that come our way. This activity will help you to recognise and remember your strengths and achievements in the future.”

et each girl to put on their t-shirt and G give each girl a marker. When they’re ready, ask the girls to think of some positive characteristics they have, things they’ve done that they’re proud of or things that they think they do well. Ask the girls not to focus on how they look, but rather who they are as a person. Each time they think of a positive point, tell them to hold each thought in mind for around ten seconds, before coming up with another positive thought.

Remember that the positives you think of shouldn’t be about the way we look, as this can put pressure on us to look a certain way. Instead, the way we can all become more resilient is to help each other understand our strengths, skills and abilities.” fter a few minutes of self-reflection, A get the group to start moving around one another, weaving in and out, until you shout ‘stop!’. When they stop, they need to move to the person nearest to them. In turn, each person should share what their positive characteristics are with the other, for example: “I’m a really brilliant graphic artist.” I love animals, so walked my neighbour’s “ dog when she broke her leg.” “I’m an excellent mother.” I just donated a bag of my old clothes to “ charity and that felt pretty good.” s the first girl in each pair shares their A positive characteristic, the second girl should write this on the first girl’s t-shirt. Then the second girl should share her positive characteristic with the first girl, while the first girl writes that on the second girl’s t-shirt.

3 As you’re writing out these positive characteristics on your partner’s t-shirt, make sure that you cover as much of the space as you can, adding pictures and other positive comments. Everyone should end up with a t-shirt covered in all kinds of positive things about yourselves: things that you like about your personality, things you’re proud of, and things you’re good at.”

emind them that positive thinking is an R important resilience-building technique, and when they need to feel a boost of confidence, they can pull out their t-shirts to remind themselves of all the amazing strengths they each have. Note: The markers may soak through the t-shirt to layers underneath, so make sure that the girls have tops on that they (or their parents) don’t mind getting marked.

ive the group about a minute to write G on the t-shirts, and then get them to move around each other again, until you shout ‘stop!’. Repeat the steps above, and continue to repeat until each girl has a number of comments on her t-shirt.

4 Step 4: Building my resilience In this section, girls consider the different resilience techniques that they are going to practise and use in the future. The activities below also allow girls the space to identify other things that they can do to improve their resilience and wellbeing including: Getting enough sleep Eating healthily Doing exercise Doing things that they enjoy/calm them down Using meditation/relaxation techniques

Activity guide Activity name Resilience dice

Section

Method Creative

Resilience checklist Written

Resilience is something we can develop and build, so to get the best out of the Think Resilient session you should continue to practise the resilience-building techniques you’ve been introduced to today. We’ve focused on four different resilience-building techniques, but because building resilience is personal to each individual, this final activity will recap some of the approaches we’ve covered and will help you to remember to practise when you get home.”

Now complete the correct section-appropriate activity from this step.

4 Resilience dice 10 minutes

Card

Dice template, pens and pencils, scissors, sticky tape/glue

What to do Ask the unit to sit down together in a circle.

Today, we’ve completed a range of activities that have helped us to understand the concept of resilience and we’ve practised a variety of different resilience-building techniques.” sk the group to reflect on what sort of A resilience tools they have covered and get them to share their reflections with each other. You can do this by asking the following questions: hat activities we done today to help W build resilience? hat skills have we practised through W those activities?

The techniques we’ve looked at are not the only ones you can use to build your resilience – there are lots of other ways to do this.” sk the group: What other things could you A do to help yourself feel better when things are tough?

One of the best things we can do to keep building our resilience is to plan what we’re going to do when we’re having a tough day or aren’t feeling great. You’re going to make a ‘resilience dice’ – which you can use when you’re having a bad day to help you choose what to do to feel better. Your dice will be unique to you, because everyone uses different techniques to build their resilience. You might decide to use some of the techniques we have covered in the session today [recap those here] or may have some ideas of other approaches you could take.” ive everyone a copy of the dice template G opposite and hand out pens, pencils, scissors, tape and glue. Ask the girls to write one different resilience technique they could use, or a different person that they could go to for help, on each side of their die. Each girl should think carefully about the techniques that are most suitable for them, as this will differ from individual to individual. ive the girls five minutes to write on G the die. Once they’ve finished, ask each girl to cut out their dice and stick the shape together.

When you’re having a challenging or stressful day, you can use this dice at home to see what you can do to feel better and remind yourself of what we did in this session.”

4 Resilience dice continued I f the girls are struggling with ideas, here are some linked to the resilience-building skills they have just practised:

Resilience technique

On the dice

Understanding emotions and limits: (Knowing when things might feel too much for us)

This is about recognising when things are starting to feel too much for us and managing our reactions, which may include remembering to eat healthily, sleep enough and do exercise.

Positive thinking and problem-solving: (Seeing problems as chances to learn and grow)

Try and look for the solution to the problem and remember – mistakes are ok!

Self-calming: (Comforting ourselves when things get difficult)

This is the ability to control or balance our emotions and calm our minds and bodies when we’re in a difficult situation. Different things work for different people, eg: Doing some exercise/playing a sport Do some meditation/mindfulness exercises Do some drawing Play a game Listen to music

Identifying support networks: (Knowing who to go to when things get difficult)

Find someone you can trust – parents, teachers or Brownie Leaders. Write on the dice who this person is.

Recognising strengths and achievements: (Remembering what we’re good at)

Practise a skill you have – something that makes you feel confident and good about yourself.

4 Top tip: To help the group understand when they should use their dice, refer back to the emotions identified in the ‘Knowing when things might feel too much for us’ section of this resource. When they’re experiencing a complex mix of emotions, they can use their dice to help feel calm.

4 Resilience checklist 10 minutes

Paper

Pens

What to do Ask the unit to sit down together in a circle.

Today, we have completed a range of activities that have helped us to understand the concept of resilience. We’ve also practised a variety of different resilience-building techniques.” sk the group to reflect on what sort of A resilience tools they have covered and get them to share their reflections with each other. You can use questions like these: hat activities have we done today to W help build resilience? hat skills have we practised through W those activities?

Think about what works best for you out of all of the techniques we’ve practised, as well as other techniques we’ve just discussed. You’re each going to create a resilience checklist of things you can do when things get tough or you’re not feeling great, as well as a range of techniques you can use to build your resilience when things are going well. Some of the points on your checklist can be things you can do straight away – you can continue building your resilience when you get home this evening! What are the first things you’ll do when you get home?” and out some pens and paper to each girl H and give the girls five minutes to reflect and create their checklist. Some girls might decide that they wish to create this visually. Make sure that each girl has one action on her list that she can do straight after the session – like downloading an app, taking up exercise, solving a current problem, identifying a trusted person etc.

hat other real-life things could we do to W keep building these skills? hat else can we do to help ourselves feel W better when we’re having a difficult time?

4 Remember to keep your resilience checklist handy. When youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re feeling like things are tough, or youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re run down or overwhelmed, look back over it and plan what you can do to build your resilience, or to just look after yourself.â&#x20AC;?

Examples of things on their checklist could include: Breaking down problems into smaller chunks, or looking for the first steps in the solution. Downloading some meditative music to play when using some breathing techniques to keep calm in challenging situations. Going to someone else for help. Making time to do something that makes us feel good about ourselves (eg baking or exercising).

5 Step 5: Take It Forward – activities for Leaders Girls can only gain their Think Resilient badge once they’ve completed all five steps, so once you’ve completed your session, direct Leaders to www.girlguiding.org.uk/ thinkresilient so that they can download the Take It Forward activities and complete the fifth and final step.

About Girlguiding Girlguiding is the leading charity for girls and young women in the UK. Our amazing volunteers inspire girls to find their voice and be their best, giving them a space where they can be themselves, have fun, build brilliant friendships, . gain valuable life skills and make a positive difference to their lives and their communities.

Thanks to these 100,000 volunteers across every part of the UK we can deliver lifechanging opportunities for girls and young women through Rainbows (aged 5 to 7; 4 to 7 in Northern Ireland), Brownies (aged 7 to 10), Guides (aged 10 to 14) and The Senior Section (14 to 25).

About YoungMinds YoungMinds is the UK’s leading charity committed to improving the emotional wellbeing and mental health of children and young people. Driven by their experiences we campaign, research and influence policy and

practice. We also provide expert knowledge to professionals, parents and young people through our Parents Helpline, online resources, training and development, engagement work and publications.

Published by Girlguiding 17-19 Buckingham Palace Road London SW1W 0PT info@girlguiding.og.uk www.girlguiding.org.uk Registered charity number 306016. Incorporated by Royal. Charter. © Girlguiding 2016 Printed in the UK by On Demand Print Services Project Coordinator: Naomi Hurrell Editor: Tom Burgess Design: Wave Production: Wendy Reynolds Users are reminded that during the lifespan of this publication there may be changes to: • Girlguiding policy • legal requirements • British Standards which will affect the accuracy of the information contained within these pages. Girlguiding would like to thank Emmeline Poole, Elizabeth Gardiner, Zoe Dowler, Kimberley Mulcahy, Sam Mackey, Rachel Brown, Olivia Hardacre and Heather Goult for their input into developing this resource. We would also like to thank YoungMinds.

Empowering girls to empower their peers 4 (peer education) is Girlguidingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s innovative programme that trains members of The Senior Section to empower themselves and others to make a difference in the lives of girls throughout the UK.