In today’s fast-moving and demanding world, resilience is what helps to navigate the ups and downs of life. It plays an important role in maintaining mental well-being and achieving personal growth. Recognizing the importance of resilience, it has become essential to work towards building this ability to bounce back from adversity and adapt to change.
While real-life challenges and experiences are not the only options to build and practice resilience for adults, interactive games and activities too help them strengthen their skills, enabling them to thrive in the face of adversity. These interactive tools have proven to be effective in nurturing resilience among adults by offering a safe and enjoyable environment where they not only practice resilience-building strategies but also create memories for life while having fun.
So, without much further ado, read on to discover engaging and effective resilience-building games and activities that can offer valuable insights and practical techniques for adults to build resilience in their everyday lives.
What is resilience building?
Resilience building refers to the process of developing and strengthening one’s ability to bounce back, adapt, and thrive in the face of adversity, challenges, or stressful situations. It involves cultivating inner strength, emotional well-being, and coping mechanisms that help individuals effectively navigate and recover from setbacks.
Here are some examples to illustrate resilience building:
- Adapting to Change: Resilience building involves developing the ability to adapt and adjust to significant changes in life, such as career transitions, relocation, or relationship changes. For example, someone who has lost their job may initially experience distress but can build resilience by seeking new opportunities, acquiring new skills, and maintaining a positive attitude in the face of uncertainty.
- Managing Stress: Resilience building includes learning effective stress management techniques to cope with daily pressures and challenges. For instance, practicing mindfulness, engaging in regular exercise, and developing healthy coping strategies like deep breathing or journaling can help individuals build resilience and maintain emotional well-being during stressful periods.
- Learning from Failure: Resilience building involves viewing failure as a learning opportunity rather than a permanent setback. People who build resilience understand that setbacks and mistakes are part of life, and they use them as stepping stones for personal growth. For example, an entrepreneur who experiences a business failure can reflect on the experience, learn from their mistakes, and use that knowledge to start a new one with increased resilience and determination.
- Cultivating Social Support: Resilience building includes fostering strong social connections and support systems. Having a reliable network of friends, family, or colleagues can provide emotional support and practical assistance during challenging times. For instance, someone going through a difficult life transition, such as a divorce, can lean on their support system for encouragement, advice, and understanding, strengthening their resilience in the process.
- Positive Self-Beliefs: Resilience building involves developing positive self-beliefs and a growth mindset. Believing in one’s ability to overcome challenges and having confidence in personal strengths can enhance resilience. For example, a student facing academic setbacks can cultivate resilience by maintaining a positive attitude, seeking assistance when needed, and believing in their capacity to improve and succeed.
Resilience building is an ongoing process that can be developed and strengthened throughout life. It involves cultivating inner resources, adopting healthy coping strategies, and nurturing supportive relationships to effectively navigate the ups and downs of life with resilience, adaptability, and a positive mindset.
Empowering resilience: Games and activities for adult strength and growth
1. Strengths Inventory:
In this activity, we’re going to explore our personal strengths and how they can help us overcome challenges and build resilience. Each of you has unique qualities that make you strong and capable. Let’s discover and celebrate those strengths!
Instructions:
- Distribute paper and pens to each participant. Instruct them about SWOT analysis and how that can be used for ourselves and not only for marketing research.
- Ask participants to create a list of their personal strengths, skills, and qualities under the “Strengths” category.
- Encourage them to reflect on how these strengths can be utilized to overcome challenges and build resilience.
- Next, move on to the “Weaknesses” category. Participants should identify areas where they feel they may need improvement or where they face challenges.
- For the “Opportunities” category, participants should think about areas they can work on and how they can develop their strengths further.
- Finally, in the “Threats” category, participants should consider any personal qualities that may hinder their progress or present challenges to overcome.
- Prompt them to reflect on how they can address these threats or transform them into opportunities for growth.
- Allow sufficient time for reflection and writing.
- Afterward, invite participants to share their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats with a partner or in a group discussion.
- Encourage supportive feedback and suggestions for overcoming challenges and maximizing strengths.
This can also be one of the group-reflection activities wherein participants not only reflect on themselves but also develop an understanding of others and help each other improve in more efficient ways.
2. Obstacle Course:
Are you ready to face some challenges? In this activity, we have an exciting obstacle course that will put your problem-solving, adaptability, and perseverance to the test. Remember, it’s not about reaching the finish line first, but about what you learn along the way. Let’s dive in!
Instructions:
- Set up an obstacle course using available materials or outdoor space.
- Explain the purpose of the activity: to practice problem-solving, adaptability, and perseverance in the face of challenges.
- Divide participants into teams or allow them to navigate the course individually.
- Encourage participants to approach each obstacle creatively and support one another.
- After completing the course, gather everyone for a debriefing session.
- Facilitate a discussion on the strategies employed, lessons learned, and any insights gained about personal resilience.
- Encourage participants to share their experiences and insights with the group.
3. Mindfulness Walk:
In this activity, we’re going to embark on a mindful journey through nature. As we walk, we’ll focus on the present moment, observe our surroundings, and connect with our thoughts and emotions. Let’s embrace this opportunity to cultivate emotional resilience and find inner peace.
Instructions:
- Find a natural setting for the mindfulness walk, such as a park or garden.
- Briefly explain the concept of mindfulness and its benefits for resilience and stress management.
- Instruct participants to walk slowly and mindfully, paying attention to each step and their senses.
- Encourage them to observe their surroundings, notice the colors, textures, sounds, and smells.
- Remind participants to be aware of their thoughts and emotions without judgment, allowing them to come and go.
- Walk silently for a designated period, typically 10-15 minutes.
- After the walk, gather participants in a circle for a sharing session.
- Invite them to reflect on their experiences, and insights gained, and how they can apply mindfulness in their daily lives to enhance resilience.
For a closer look at mindfulness and practice it daily, you can also check mindfulness games for additional help.
4. Resilience Collage:
Get ready to tap into your creativity! In this activity, we’re going to create resilience collages that visually represent our personal journeys. Through images, words, and phrases, we’ll highlight our experiences, strengths, and strategies for overcoming obstacles. Let’s unleash our artistic sides!”
Instructions:
- Provide each participant with magazines, scissors, glue, and poster boards.
- Explain that the colleges will represent their personal resilience journeys.
- Instruct participants to search for images, words, and phrases that resonate with their experiences, strengths, and strategies for overcoming obstacles.
- Encourage them to cut out and arrange these elements on their poster boards, creating a visually appealing composition.
- After completion, invite participants to share and discuss their collages with the group.
- Encourage them to explain the symbolism behind their chosen elements and how they relate to their resilience journeys.
- Facilitate a supportive and open discussion, allowing participants to ask questions and provide feedback to each other.
- Emphasize the commonalities and unique aspects of each person’s collage, celebrating their individual paths to resilience.
- Conclude the activity by encouraging participants to display their collages somewhere meaningful as a reminder of their strength and resilience.
Besides, this activity can also be complemented with the use of self-reflection books. After completing the collage, participants can reflect on their strengths and journeys and have insights from these books that can further help them with their self-discovery.
5. Role Model Reflection
In this activity, we’ll explore the concept of resilience by reflecting on the experiences of inspiring role models. By learning from their stories, we can gain valuable insights and inspiration for our own resilience journeys.”
Instructions:
- Ask participants to choose a role model whom they admire for their resilience.
- Provide prompts to guide their reflection, such as “What challenges did your role model face? How did they overcome adversity? What qualities or strategies did they exhibit?”
- Encourage participants to write a brief reflection or create a visual representation of their role model’s resilience journey.
- Give participants an opportunity to share their reflections with the group, highlighting the key lessons they learned and how they can apply them to their own lives.
6. Gratitude Scavenger Hunt
Through this activity, we’ll embark on a gratitude scavenger hunt to cultivate a positive mindset and enhance our resilience. By actively seeking out things we’re grateful for, we can train our minds to focus on the positives, even in difficult times.
Instructions:
- Provide participants with a gratitude scavenger hunt checklist or worksheet.
- The checklist should include various categories, such as nature, relationships, personal achievements, and everyday joys.
- Instruct participants to go on a scavenger hunt, actively seeking out things they are grateful for that fit each category.
- Encourage them to document their findings through writing, drawing, or taking photos.
- After the scavenger hunt, gather participants for a group discussion, allowing them to share their gratitude discoveries and reflect on how practicing gratitude can foster resilience and a positive mindset.
7. Resilience-building Quotes Sharing
Let’s dive into the wisdom of resilient individuals who have faced challenges and triumphed. In this activity, we’ll create a circle where we can share inspiring quotes or quotes on sharing is caring, that will serve as daily reminders of our own resilience and strength.
Instructions:
- Allow participants to read through books or online mediums
- Ask participants to find quotes or phrases that inspire them and reflect resilience and strength.
- Encourage participants to share the quotes that resonate with them and represent resilience.
- Allow time for participants to explain the significance of each quote and how it relates to their own resilience journeys.
8. Resilience Storytelling Circle
Storytelling is a powerful tool for building resilience as well as to build articulation skills. In this activity, we’ll come together in a storytelling circle to share personal stories of resilience, strength, and triumph. By sharing our experiences, we inspire and support each other in our resilience journeys.
Instructions:
- Form a circle with the participants.
- Invite one participant to share a personal story of resilience, focusing on the challenges they faced, how they overcame them, and the lessons they learned.
- Afterward, pass a symbolic object, such as a small stone or a talking stick, to the next person in the circle.
- Encourage each participant to share their own story of resilience, using the object as a symbol of their turn to speak.
- Remind participants to actively listen and offer support and encouragement during each storytelling session.
- Create a safe and non-judgmental space for individuals to share their vulnerabilities and triumphs.
- Facilitate a discussion after each person shares, allowing for reflections, questions, and expressions of appreciation.
- Conclude the activity by acknowledging the collective strength and resilience within the group and emphasizing the power of storytelling to inspire and build resilience.
Conclusion
As our resilient adventure comes to a close, let us reflect on the valuable lessons and growth we’ve experienced together. Through these games and activities, we’ve tapped into our inner well of resilience, unlocking our potential to overcome obstacles with grace and determination.
Remember, resilience is not just a quality; it’s a muscle that we can strengthen and nurture throughout our lives. As we face future challenges, we can draw upon the skills and strategies we’ve honed during our time together.
Let the spirit of resilience guide you, reminding you that setbacks are temporary and that within every challenge lies an opportunity for growth. Embrace change, find gratitude in the smallest of joys, and cultivate a supportive network of fellow resilient souls.
May the seeds of resilience continue to blossom within you, empowering you to face adversity head-on and thrive. Carry this newfound strength and wisdom with you on your journey, knowing that you have the power to weather any storm that comes your way.
Farewell, resilient adventurers, and may your path be filled with resilience, growth, and endless possibilities.
I am Shweta Sharma. I am a final year Masters student of Clinical Psychology and have been working closely in the field of psycho-education and child development. I have served in various organisations and NGOs with the purpose of helping children with disabilities learn and adapt better to both, academic and social challenges. I am keen on writing about learning difficulties, the science behind them and potential strategies to deal with them. My areas of expertise include putting forward the cognitive and behavioural aspects of disabilities for better awareness, as well as efficient intervention. Follow me on LinkedIn