The words we say have immense power in shaping our mindset and motivation. The power of yet is about switching our language from, “I can’t do this” to, “I can’t do this YET”. This can help us establish a growth mindset; a meaningful asset that’s integral to our goal development!
Younger students can benefit emotionally and academically from learning this life skill early on. Here are 20 fantastic student activities that can help foster the power of yet and a growth mindset!
1. Watch “The Incredible Power of Yet”
You can watch this short video for a delightful overview of the power of yet. It shows how everyone, even the high achievers in class, can sometimes struggle with not knowing how to do things. But, if you keep trying, eventually you can accomplish anything!
Learn More: YouTube
2. Daily Affirmations
The beginning of class or snack time can be the perfect time to say a growth mindset motto. For example, you and your students could say, “If I can’t complete a task, I just haven’t figured out how to do it yet”.
Learn More: Kirsten’s Kaboodle
3. I Can, I Can’t Yet Worksheet
While there may be many things that your students can’t do yet, there are also many things that they can do! We can praise students for the things they can do already. Using this worksheet, they can sort through the things they can and can’t do yet.
Learn More: Twinkl
4. Read “The Magical Yet”
Here’s an awesome children’s book that turns the power of yet into an imaginary sidekick- the magical yet. The learning process can be difficult, but the magical yet can make it easier by bolstering our resiliency skills to keep trying!
Learn More: Little, Brown and Company
5. The Magical Yet Activity
The previous book pairs well with this creative growth mindset activity. In this activity, your students can draw their own “magical yet” creature and write some of the things they can’t do yet!
Learn More: Little Yellow Star
6. Read “The Power of Yet”
Here’s another children’s book that teaches the value of perseverance and grit. Through fun illustrations and rhymes, you can watch a spunky little piglet grow and learn to accomplish new things, like riding a bike or playing the violin.
Learn More: Amazon
7. Origami Penguins
This activity can be a great introduction to the power of yet. Your students can try to make origami penguins without instructions. They might become frustrated with not knowing how to do it. Then, provide instructions. You can ask reflection questions about their overall experience.
Learn More: Little Yellow Star
8. Persuasive Leaflets: Fixed Mindset Versus Growth Mindset
How would your students go about convincing a new classmate that a growth mindset is the way to go? Working in groups or individually, your students can create a persuasive leaflet comparing the two different types of mindsets.
Learn More: Making Learning Super
9. Change Your Words
In this growth mindset activity, your students can practice changing the words of fixed mindset sayings to words that are more growth-oriented. For example, instead of saying “I can’t do math”, you can say “I can’t do the math yet”.
Learn More: Making Learning Super
10. Growth Mindset Task Cards
Here’s a growth mindset pack of task cards to help your students think about growth mindset strategies they can apply in their own lives. In this set, there are 20 relevant discussion questions. Answers can be shared among the class or journaled privately.
Learn More: Teachers Pay Teachers
11. Famous Failures
Failure can be an important part of the process of learning. Viewing failures as learning opportunities can help facilitate a growth mindset. Here is a package of stories about celebrities who’ve encountered failures. Can your students relate to any of the stories?
Learn More: Big Life Journal
12. Famous People Research Project
Your students can take the famous failures a step further and research a famous person. They can consider how this person used a growth mindset to achieve success. After compiling their information, they can form a 3D figure of the person for display!
Learn More: Teachers Pay Teachers
13. Talk About Your Failures
It can be interesting to learn about famous people, but sometimes learning about stories from the people closest to us can be more impactful. You can consider sharing your own struggles with your class and how you grew and overcame them with your problem-solving skills.
Learn More: Continental Press
14. Zentangle Growth Mindset Art Project
I love to mix art into my lessons whenever I get the chance. Your students can trace their hands on paper and draw zentangle patterns within them. The background can be painted, followed by adding some written growth mindset phrases!
Learn More: Lessons with Laughter
15. Reach For The Stars: Collaborative Craftivity
This craft will get your students collaborating to create the final piece! Your students can work on their own pieces; individually addressing questions about themselves and their mindsets. When completed, students can glue the pieces together to form a beautiful classroom display.
Learn More: Top Floor Teachers
16. Escape Room
This escape room can be a fun way to review classroom lessons on fixed mindsets, growth mindsets, and the power of yet. It consists of digital and paper puzzles for your students to solve to escape the fixed mindset.
Learn More: Teachers Pay Teachers
17. SMART Goal Setting
A growth mindset and the power of yet can help your students with accomplishing their goals. SMART goal setting can be an effective technique for creating attainable goals that are likely to lead to student success.
Learn More: Scholar Within
18. Growth Mindset Coloring Pages
Coloring sheets can make easy, low-prep activities for almost any topic; including social-emotional learning. You can print these free growth mindset poster pages for your students to color away!
Learn More: Proud to be Primary
19. More Inspiring Coloring Sheets
Here’s another set of coloring pages with some inspirational quotes about the beautiful growth mindset. These sheets have more detail than the last set, so they might be more suitable for your older grade students.
Learn More: Art is Basic
20. Positive Self-Talk Cards & Bookmarks
Positive self-talk can be a valuable tool for fostering an environment of perseverance and resilience. You can create and hand out these cards and bookmarks to act as constructive motivation for your students. For example, “It’s okay if you can’t do this YET!”.
Learn More: Proud to be Primary
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