A vision board is a creative way to design a visual space that literally brings your visions to life and they aren't just for adults. it's a great way for both you and your kids to set personal goals each year.
They offer a great way for kids to get motivated and take action to reach their goals, especially in the tween years when most kids seem to start losing their motivation to engage in activities, or see the benefit in doing various tasks.
These simple visualization boards can help them hone in on their interests while developing much-needed planning skills for the future.
Here are a few simple steps to creating a vision board:
All you need is a medium size poster board and glue, or a corkboard and pins. If you currently don't have these items at home, use paper or cardboard (cut open an empty cereal box). Any type of material can be added onto the board: cut out pictures from magazines, newspapers, or written goals and drawings - anything goes.
It’s absolutely wonderful to dream big and include amazing goals on the vision board, but make sure to also include realistic and achievable goals. Let your kids know this is a board specifically for what's important to them.
It helps to set specific goals and to think outside of the box. The vision board can contain more than just ‘material’ things. It can include activities they would like to do, amount of money they need to save to purchase something they want, skills they would like to acquire or improve, places they would like to visit, or ways they can give back to their community.
It’s also important to come up with a plan to actively work towards achieving the set goals.
Short term goals are easier to achieve, and in turn, can motivate children to fulfill the rest of their vision board goals.
For instance, if your child wants to receive a higher grade on their next math test, then ask them to come up with a plan in order to achieve this goal (e.g. do an extra 5 minutes of math every day).
Long term goals require more thought in terms of action planning but can be broken down into smaller tasks along the way.
For example, learning to type using all ten fingers can seem overwhelming at first, but this skill can be achieved gradually over time. So, practicing keyboarding 5 minutes every day, while tracking and rewarding progress weekly, can make this goal attainable by the end of the year or sooner.
Get creative. They can personalize their board by adding things they love and things they are grateful for (e.g. family pet).
As a parent, you might also learn something new from your ever-changing child. My son added on his board: "Learn to do Bardownskis." So, I asked him if Bardownski played for the Montreal Canadians. He laughed at me. Turns out Bardownski is not an NHL player, it’s a type of hockey goal, where the puck hits the hockey net cross "bar," then drops down, landing in the net …the "ski" part apparently just makes it sound cooler!
Keep the vision board in their bedroom, in plain sight, as a reminder. When a goal gets accomplished… CELEBRATE!
If some of the goals don’t get reached by the end of the year… no worries. Learning to deal with setbacks, think positive, and notice the good intention behind any goal setting is just as important as reaching the goal!
Vision boards can be a useful tool at any age. So try making one for yourself too. The outcome might surprise you.
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