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.
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.
“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.
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.
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.
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.
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.