EP 25 - Create an Imperfect Japanese Peace Garden

Zara and Leo arrive in Nara Park, a peaceful deer sanctuary in Japan. They want to make a traditional Japanese peace garden, but things aren’t going exactly to plan... Find out how to celebrate imperfections, and learn more about kintsugi, the ancient Japanese art of imperfect things.

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In this episode, children will:

learn to celebrate imperfection
travel to Japan
be inspired by Mio Heki, a kintsugi artist

Supplemental Resources

Read

Mistakes That Worked by Charlotte Foltz Jones
The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes by Mark Pett
Beautiful Oops! by Barney Saltzberg
You Can Do It, Bert! by Ole Könnecke
After the Fall by Dan Santat

Watch

Perfection is the Wrong Direction by Isabella Fons TEDxYouth
Succeed by Failing by Crash Course Kids

Activities

1. 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!

2. Use the Take Chances Keep Going printable (in the Resilience Kit) to help children stay motivated as they put effort into their tasks. When they keep going and don’t give up, they will see great results from their work. Print enough copies to complete the drawings together. As you’re drawing, talk about times when your children didn’t give up on something difficult.

3. Create a Jar of Awesome (in the Podcast Activity Kit) to celebrate the small wins that move your child closer to their dream. It can make all the difference in how they feel about their progress and will help them stay motivated. Every time they feel unmotivated or discouraged, re-read the wins from their jar.

4. Use the printable My Power of YET (in our Growth Mindset Printables Kit) to practice this concept with your children. It helps children believe they can improve and achieve their goals and dreams with the right strategies and effort.

5. Use our Success Iceberg poster to explain “the power of yet” concept to children. Accomplishing big things requires time, effort, mistakes, setbacks, and lots of practice.

6. 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 if they making a mistake, they can turn it into a new one.

Discussion Questions

What did Leo & Zara do when their peace garden got ruined?
How would you kintsugi to your friend who has never heard of it?
When things don’t go how you wanted or as planned, what can you do to feel calm?

For Parents and Teachers

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.