Ages: 7-12

Lesson Objective:

A children’s lesson defining what it means to survive and to thrive, what environments we best thrive in, and what factors can help lead us to success. 

This is a good setup topic to consider SMART goals later.

Group Meeting:

Gather your group to the meeting area and have them take a seat.

1. Introduce the lesson by explaining your topic this week is on surviving vs. thriving. Then ask what are some key words the children think of when they hear “survive” and then “thrive.”
2. Tell an anecdote. For example, “If I’m going to be camping in the woods I’d like to make sure I’m packed up, have all the supplies I need ready to go, have checked what the weather will be like, and have stuff in case of an emergency. This way, when it comes down to it, I’m gonna thrive when I camp. However, if I was just thrown into the woods with no tent, food, or water—I would be in pure survival mode. My focus would not be on having fun, observing nature, and roasting marshmallows—instead I’d be worried and looking for any way to make it by.”
   1. In a way, surviving looks like searching for the bare minimum to make it by, while thriving means you have your needs and now get to focus on wants and goals.
3. Ask the group to give an example of a time in the last three days they were in survival mode. When you find yourself in this mode, what kind of emotions do you feel? Have you seen friends feel this way too?
4. On a whiteboard or butcher paper, write out the following phrases and draw two connecting bubbles labeled “T” and “S”:
   1. At home
   2. In class
   3. During PE
   4. Taking a test
5. Write out the group’s answers or allow kids to come up and write in each bubble, “What does thriving look like in this scenario? What does surviving look like?”
6. To transition to the activity, tell the group, “One thing I’ve noticed is when we have what we need to survive, we’re able to thrive. For our activity, let’s think about the things we need to do and the things we’d like to do so we can thrive.”

Summary of Tasks/Activity:

So I Can Thrive!

1. Pass out the So I Can Thrive worksheet.
2. Have crayons, colored pencils, and pencils/pens ready.
3. As children are viewing the worksheet, have the group consider and write/draw how in life they want to thrive. Put their descriptions in the middle circle.
4. On the outer circles, think about what you need in life to survive. Draw or write those things.
5. Share with a partner or others in the group your ideas!
   1. As the instructor, fill out the worksheet with the children to help give ideas and inspiration to the children.

Materials/Equipment:

• Butcher paper or a whiteboard
• Markers or dry erase markers
• So I can Thrive! (1) Worksheet
• Pencils
• Colored pencils
• Crayons

Class 1 — Surviving vs. Thriving PDF Lesson Plan