How to Use Role-Playing to Help Kids Understand Flexible Mindset

Mindset is an important way for kids to build resilience. Having a flexible mindset means that kids are able to learn and grow from setbacks rather than internalize failure as an issue of self-worth.

A flexible mindset can also help with critical thinking skills as it makes it possible to see potential solutions to a problem.

Unfortunately, it can be difficult for kids to understand abstract concepts, and thinking outside the box often means imagining what might happen instead of what's right in front of them.

Here's a phrase that you can use with kids to make a flexible mindset more concrete:

Flip the script

Reminding kids that they have the power to "flip the script" reframes the problem toward something solvable. This is when role-playing gives kids an opportunity to practice these skills until they can think of solutions on their own.

For example, if your child does badly on an exam and says things like, "I'm no good at this," ask your child to flip the script and imagine what their best friend would say to them.

Then, act out a scene between your child (played by you) and their best friend (played by them).

How would someone else respond with love and compassion?

What solutions would someone else come up with?

You can also try this with a failure or setback that a character in a movie or TV show experiences. Take turns playing out the same scene with different endings and different ways to solve the problem.

Flipping the script means imagining different ways that conversations and situations might go. Model this by talking to kids about times that you've had to flip the script and see failure in a new way.