Create Family Goals with Vision Boards for the New Year!
Photo by Jennifer Borget at Cherish 365.
We’re looking forward to bidding 2020 adieu and are optimistically welcoming 2021. As many of our Georgia families and child care providers were adversely affected by the pandemic and months of social unrest, it is our hope that these last weeks of the year will include respite, peace, joy, and reflection to propel you into a more successful and happier new year.
One recommended way to kick off a positive new year is to visualize what you want to achieve, and the actions needed to reach your 2021 goals. Challenge your family to take part and begin a new end-of-year family tradition where everyone creates family vision boards.
What are vision boards? While being fun and easy to make, they are usually collage-like visual representations of your goals. While some people prefer to make them using technology or with Pinterest, we recommend using a poster board and good old-fashioned creativity.
This exercise helps children learn more about setting and working towards goals, which is an important life skill that teaches them to take responsibility for themselves. Creating goals has other benefits too. It encourages kids to be imaginative, mindful, intentional, optimistic, and grateful for their family support and accomplishments. Sounds like a win-win activity to us!
To get started with your vision boards, first spend time with your family discussing the previous year and establishing some specific goals for 2021. In your family conversation, take turns sharing what you liked/didn’t like about the previous year, new things you would like to experience in 2021, habits you want to change, what kind of qualities you want to have or person you want to be. After your family chat and before creating your vision boards, it will be helpful for each of you to write down some specific goals, thoughts and dreams to help guide your creativity for when you actually sit down to make the boards.
Once your boards are created, you will want to hang them up where you and your children will see them prominently and regularly as they will serve as a reminder to stay motivated and on track with your goals.
See some additional tips below for getting started.
Suggested Materials for Making Vision Boards
Poster board
Variety of magazines for cutting out pictures
Glue and/or tape
Several pairs of scissors
Crayons, colored pencils, markers and etc.
Stickers
Things that inspire you: quotes, pictures, sayings and images
Things to Keep in Mind When Creating Vision Boards
Talk with your kids about goal setting and encourage them to think of one to three goals (that are achievable and age-appropriate) for the year.
Explain to your children what a vision board is and have an example to show your kids when explaining the activity.
Depending on your child’s age, encourage your children to start with some small goals and maybe one challenging goal
Collaborate and guide but do not dictate goals to your child for their vision board.
It is their board. Let them have creative control to express their goals in the way that speaks to them.
Agree on future family check-ins for goal updates, how you will track goals, and how you can support them in achieving their vision.
Keep it fun!
Check out these resources for more information:
