Flipping a Lid

Flipping Your Lid; Understanding How Our Brain Works

In January, our 2nd and 3rd graders learned about how their brains work when they feel stressed, worried, or upset. This lesson, called “Flipping Your Lid,” helps students understand why big emotions can sometimes make it hard to think, and what they can do to calm themselves down.

How Our Brain Helps Us

Students learned that their brain helps them do many amazing things, like think, learn, remember, make decisions, and feel emotions. But sometimes, when emotions get very big, the brain can temporarily stop working the way we want it to.

What Does “Flipping Your Lid” Mean?

“Flipping your lid” happens when the brain becomes so stressed or overwhelmed that it reacts without thinking first. This can be helpful if we are in real danger, but when we are safe, flipping our lid can make problems bigger instead of better.

To help students understand this, we learned about three important parts of the brain using a simple fist model:

• Prefrontal Cortex (PFC) – the “wise owl”
  This part helps us think, make smart choices, and stay calm and ready to learn.

• Hippocampus – the “memory saver”
  This part helps us remember information and learn new things.

• Amygdala – the “guard dog”
  This part keeps us safe by reacting quickly when it senses danger.
  
  

When the guard dog starts barking loudly, the wise owl can “fly away,” and the memory saver can’t do its job. This is when we’ve flipped our lid, and our body may want to fight, run away (flight), or freeze.

Real-Life Examples

Students talked about common situations where someone might flip their lid, such as:

• Losing something and feeling rushed

• Getting stuck on a hard test question

• Feeling embarrassed in front of others

• Getting very nervous about a presentation

These examples helped students see that flipping a lid doesn’t mean someone is bad, it just means their brain needs help calming down.

What Can We Do When We Flip Our Lid?

Students practiced ways to help their wise owl come back in control, including:

• Taking slow, deep breaths

• Naming how they feel

• Talking to a trusted adult

• Using their senses (noticing what they see, hear, smell, touch, or taste)

• Using positive self-talk to remind themselves they are safe

We emphasized that calming the brain takes practice, and everyone needs help sometimes.

Why This Skill Matters

Understanding how their brain works helps students:

• Make sense of big emotions

• Feel less embarrassed when they get overwhelmed

• Learn healthy ways to calm down

• Build confidence and emotional control

Students learned that having big feelings is normal and learning how to handle them is an important life skill.

Try This at Home

You can support this lesson by asking:

• “What does flipping your lid feel like for you?”

• “What helps your wise owl come back?”

• “What can we do together when we’re feeling stressed?”

Talking about brain and body signals at home helps children practice these skills in everyday situations.