Learning Objective:
- To understand that everyone
experiences difficult times and feelings – part of life
- Understand what resilience is and
why it is valuable
- Resilience strategies –
positive self-talk, perspective, practice and prayer
Quran Verse:
Wala nabluwannakum
We will surely test you 2:155
Hardships and problems are a part of life. Painful things
will happen, things will hurt and upset us. We will come across challenges, we will get things wrong,
we will make mistakes. It doesn’t matter how good you are, even the Prophets and the Ahlulbayt went through difficulties.
Allah tells us in the Quran that He will test every
single one of us. Allah tests those He loves even more! But we have a choice how we respond to these
difficulties.
Activity: Rock Solid
Hold up a nail and brainstorm what kind of difficulties and problems the children face.
Hover the nail over the balloon. Do you ‘pop under
pressure’ and burst as soon as you encounter something difficult?
Hit the rock with the nail. Or can you remain ‘rock solid’ and strong when faced with hardships.
We have a choice how we respond to difficulties.
Activity: Role Play Scenarios
It’s Monday morning and Fatema and Zahra get the results
of their spelling test.
Oh no they’ve both done pretty badly. How do you think they feel?
They both go through the similar emotions –
disappointment, anger, fear, embarrassment, sadness. But they react differently.
Fatema: Starts blaming the teacher and says she’s always mean to
her. Says I’m rubbish at spelling. Stops trying. Starts feeling sorry for herself.
Zahra: Thinks about what she could do differently. She decides to write up her new spelling list and stick
it where she can see it. She makes an effort and practices the words everyday. In the evening she asks her mum to test her. She prays and is hopeful that this time she can do better.
Fatema failed the spelling test, felt sad and gave up.
She stayed down.
Zahra failed the test and felt sad too. But she managed
to recover and bounced back. She didn’t let it keep her down.
This positive behaviour is called resilience. Resilience is being able to get back up after a fall. The
ability to recover quickly from difficulties and disappointments. Resilience is an important and extremely valuable skill that
we can all learn. It helps us to work through challenging times.
Activity: Monster Jump Ups
These monsters know how to get back up when they
are knocked down. They don’t stay down and feel sorry for themselves. They are
resilient. They bounce back up fast.
Activity: Ways to Build Resilience
1. Perspective - Look at problems and difficulties in a different way.
2. Positive Self-Talk
3. Patience and Perseverance - Keep Practicing!
4. Pray for Help
Download Complete Lesson Plan: Resilience