As part of our Inspiration Day visit at Astra Special School, The Little Optimist crew spent the day connecting with learners from Grade R all the way to Grade 7 through fun, meaningful activities that celebrated curiosity, courage, and learning through failure.
With the Grade R–3 learners, we shared our beautiful story called “The Sea Monster.”” Before opening the book, we asked the learners what they thought the sea monster might be. Many of them quickly guessed that it was plastic in the ocean, which was amazing to hear. When the story began, the room went quiet. The learners listened closely, completely drawn into the story and its message about protecting the ocean and caring for marine life.
The Grade 4s jumped straight into a hands-on challenge about how failing is simply the First Attempt In Learning. Each learner received a balloon and had to knock down stacked cups using only the air from the balloon. The first round? Total chaos and lots of confused faces. But we cheered every attempt because every “failure” meant they were learning. By the second round, the light bulbs started going on, and the cups began to fall!
With the Grade 5s, we shared two powerful stories: the Baby Adam story and our all-time favorite “Never Give Up” Green Frog story, reminders that perseverance can take you further than you ever imagine.
The Grade 6s brought the energy as we challenged them with riddles. No hints, no clues, just their minds at work. Most of the answers didn’t come right away, but that wasn’t the point. What mattered was watching them think, debate, and try again.
And then came the Grade 7s. Their challenge? Turning the well-known infinity symbol into a real knot says, ” It sounds simple, but with no pictures or instructions, it quickly became tricky. After many attempts, they moved on to the figure-of-eight knot , and eventually, our facilitators stepped in to guide them through it. What stood out most was their bravery to keep trying.
At the end of every session, each learner received a medal, not because they had won, but because they had failed, tried again, and learned. And that, to us, is the real victory. 🥇
