EP 3 - How to Turn Failures into Robots

The Great Barrier Reef and Marita the Engineering Seahorse

Zara and Leo have accidentally crash-landed into the Great Barrier Reef! Will they find a way back from the bottom of the ocean? Will Zara be able to get over her fear of failure? Will Leo be able to eat a whole cake in under 28 seconds?

In this episode, children will:

• discover why mistakes & failures help them grow
• travel to Australia
• be inspired by Marita Cheng, the founder of RoboGals and her failures

Want to Learn More

Read

• Be sure to read Chapter 2 "Mistakes Help You Grow" in Big Life Journal - Second Edition and do the fun activities. The science part of this chapter explains to kids that mistakes actually grow their brains!

• Mistakes That Worked by Charlotte Foltz Jones
• Lego Chain Reactions Science & Building Kit
• 21 STEM Books for Kids
• Books About Women in STEM

Watch

• Marita Cheng - Robo Gal
• How a Failed Invention Led to a Potentially Life-Saving New Idea 
• What’s an Engineer? by Crash Course Kids
• Jessi Has a Problem! by SciShow Kids

Activities

1. Complete the Build Your Own Robot Challenge (in the Podcast Activity Kit). Have your child use their imagination to create something amazing and unique! Don't worry about making a mistake- you can turn it into a new one.

2. Read the poem When I Make A Mistake (in the Growth Mindset Printables Kit) to help children develop a more positive attitude about making mistakes. You could laminate or frame it and place it in your children’s room, encourage them to memorize it, or use it as a cover or front page for a binder.

3. Read stories from the Famous Failures Kit designed to help children overcome the fear of failure. These stories of famous people teach about the importance of effort and perseverance on the way to success.

Discussion Questions

• When things don’t go how you wanted or as planned, what can you do to feel calm?
• Think of a time when you made a mistake or failed at something. What did you learn? What would you do differently next time?
• Share the acronym FAIL (First Attempt In Learning)

For Parents and Teachers

• 4 Steps to Help Kids Cope with Feelings about Failure
• 7 Ways to Teach Kids Failure is a Great Thing
• 5 Effective Ways to Help Your Perfectionist Child

Produced by Alexandra Eidens and Big Life Journal team. Written and directed by Sarah Cyrano. Sound design and original music by Elettra Bargiacchi. Sound mixing by Mattia Marcelli. Characters played by Sean Chiplock and Ryan Bartley. Managed by Kait Bibb.

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