Let’s Talk About Grit: Why Resilience Needs More Than Toughness
Hello lovely readers,
I’m Lotty, also known as Nanny Lou to my seven grandchildren (ranging from 5 months to 16 years!). If you read my last blog, “10 Top Tips for Building Resilience in Children,” you’ll know I’m passionate about helping little ones grow strong from the inside out.
So when I saw the UK government’s recent announcement about plans to build more “grit” in children by improving school-based mental health support, it got me thinking, and feeling.
Because while grit has its place, I believe resilience needs more than just pushing through. It needs joy, imagination, a safe space to fail, and, yes, a bit of creative mess.
Let’s start with this. “Grit” is being talked about in policy papers and headlines. It’s the determination to keep going even when things are hard, and of course that’s a skill worth having. But resilience, to me, is something gentler. It’s more about being able to bounce back after a wobble.
Where grit sometimes feels like “push harder,” resilience says, “You’re allowed to feel, and still keep going.”
It’s a subtle shift, but an important one. Especially for little ones who are just learning how to understand their emotions and their place in the world.
The government is looking to expand mental health teams into more schools across England, reaching nearly a million extra pupils with support for anxiety, emotional challenges, and well-being.
That’s a wonderful step. We need more professionals in schools to support our children’s mental health. It’s a topic we should all be talking about, at kitchen tables, in classrooms, and yes, on blogs like this.
But I’d also like to offer this:
Resilience isn’t just built in therapy rooms and policy initiatives.
It’s built in the garden, in the den made of sofa cushions, in the bedtime story that says “It’s okay to make mistakes.”
At Weebert’s World, we use stories, play and creativity to help children feel safe to explore their thoughts and emotions. Our scrap-built robots, like Weebert, Tweebert and Digbert, make mistakes all the time. And every time they do, they try again. They lean on friends. They find the joy in problem-solving.
Through these stories, children begin to understand what resilience feels like.
It’s:
Saying “I’ll have another go.”
Laughing when something wobbles.
Asking for help, and knowing that’s not weakness — it’s courage.
Letting your imagination lead the way.
We’ve seen children light up when we tell stories or bring out the robots. But it’s not just fun — it’s learning disguised as play. And that’s the magic.
Here’s what I believe, with every fibre of my being, and I’ve lived a lot of life to know this:
If we want children to have grit, we must also give them joy.
If we want them to persevere, we must make sure they feel safe enough to fail.
And if we want to build strong children, we must give them love, stories, play… and just enough scrap to build something amazing.
I’ve been a mum, a military spouse, a public sector worker, and now a grandma and storyteller. I didn’t learn resilience from being told to be tough. I learned it from making things, breaking things, loving fiercely and believing in second chances. And that’s what we try to offer children through Weebert’s World.
If you’re a parent, grandparent, teacher or just someone who loves a little one … I hope this blog gives you permission to rethink what grit looks like.
Not just pushing through.
But reaching out.
Messing up.
Trying again.
And finding joy in the process.
Resilience isn’t a buzzword for me. It’s a practice, something we build together, one story, one scrap, one little robot at a time.
With love,
Lotty x
