Flip the Flop

No one likes making mistakes. Mistakes are discouraging and can generate painful – or embarrassing – memories. But everybody makes mistakes. As a matter of fact, the greatest achievements in history are often the result of countless mistakes. A common theme amongst people whose success is preceded by innumerable false steps is that they see mistakes not as failures but as lessons.

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

— Thomas A. Edison

Learning lessons from mistakes is a core feature of a resilient mind. If we wish our children to become resilient, we must help them view mistakes in a positive light and embrace them as opportunities.

This Fun Sheet “Flip-flop my mistake” will help your child build a positive mindset to reframe mistakes as lessons for their growth.

Your child will first read a scene from Alice in Wonderland in which Alice finds the gardeners painting white roses red. According to the gardeners:

“Why the fact is, you see, Miss, this here ought to have been a red rose-tree, and we put a white one in by mistake…”

Your child will be asked if the gardeners’ painting the roses is a proper reaction to the mistake they made.

In the second part, your child will practise converting their own mistakes into lessons – they will learn how to treat mistakes as lessons by designing a flip-flop.

Our society praises results not failure, so it’s no surprise that children tend to believe that mistakes are very bad and should be avoided. Teaching your child that mistakes can be useful is a great gift you can give to help them become resilient.