Goal setting is an important skill, and if we teach goal setting for kids and make it fun, it can become a good habit for life. Many schools now run through a goal setting exercise at the beginning of every school year and school term, with regular reviews along the way. You can do the same, or of course you can set some goals with the kids yourself at home. Whether you choose to use our Goal Setting resources at New Year, Back to School time or perhaps even the beginning of every month, we hope you will find some fun and inspiring printables below! Why should children set goals? Feeling in control is an important part of feeling happy and confident. Regular and careful goal setting can help children feel that they are taking control of their own behaviour and working towards something; having a positive impact, no matter how small. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Lao-Tzu Be careful to keep the goals realistic and measured. Start small! Some supervision might be necessary here, as the last thing you want is for children to set goals that are just too high and impossible to reach. It doesn't necessarily help a child to boldly declare "I will play football for Chelsea". Instead try "I will work 15 minutes every day to improve my football skills by practising ball control". Think about the time scale for your children's goals. Many people like to set an end-date to make their goals "measurable", and if you are working on goals in a school-setting this may well be appropriate. I have found, however, that a time-scale can put children - especially younger children - off. Young children find it hard to understand the concept of time. It can be more effective to set a simple goal which can be "ticked off" every night before bed, which has the added benefit of teaching children how to instill a good habit. "I made my room tidy before I left for school" or "I got everything ready for tomorrow before bedtime" can be useful skills - and goals, too! It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop. Confucius Think about what might get in the way before you start. If your child has decided that they want to read a book a week, but you know they spend most of their reading time watching television instead, the time to point it out is when the goal is being set. They might even include it in the goal itself. "I will turn off the TV 20 minutes before supper so that I can spend that time reading instead." Show children how to break down their goals into smaller steps. A child that wants to be prime minister one day might start by trying out for class representative, or signing up for public speaking practice after school. Look out for goal-setting opportunities. When a child starts a sentence with "I wish I could..." or "I wish I had..." - there's a possible goal to work towards at the end of it, even it just means some careful saving up of pocket money for the lastest video game! Try to encourage co-operative goals rather than competitive goals. Some children might want to "come first" in all their tests. Perhaps a better goal would be "to score over 80% in all my tests". That way, the outcome is something that they contribute to and, at least to some extent, achieve by their own hard work. Make sure kids choose their own goals - not just try to please others! If you are working with your children to set goals, it can be tempting to "help" with your own ideas - especially if you have a reluctant child! Try hard to elicit a goal from the child rather than impose your own. Remind children that they don't have to achieve all their goals! Goals are something to work towards and aim for. Falling short isn't necessarily a bad thing, if we keep moving in the right direction. Remind kids to learn from their slip-ups and road-blocks. Keeping a record of goals set and tracking how children work towards them can help with this. Aim for the moon. If you miss, you may hit a star. W. Clement Stone Explore Our Goal Setting Printables...