AbstractAll individuals possess an inner voice that helps them to navigate life and its challenges. However, little is known about how children use self‐talk to maintain their momentary engagement during academic tasks. Using qualitative methods, this study investigated how 19 children (aged 8–12 years) from one primary school prospectively used self‐talk to maintain their motivation. Vignettes were used to prompt children's reports on what they would say to themselves to stay motivated during challenges they might typically encounter in the classroom. These included becoming frustrated or tired, and having to choose between work and play. The data were deductively coded into 11 coping families typically measured in academic settings within the framework of motivational resilience. The data were then inductively coded within the best represented coping families to uncover subthemes of coping. The results extend the motivational resilience literature and illustrate the multidimensional nature of coping with challenges in classrooms.