Resolutions for Toddlers!

When it comes to New Year’s resolutions, we think of common goals, such as making better choices regarding finances or health, but resolutions can and should begin in childhood. The start of a new year can be a great time to talk about resolutions with kiddos which is essentially goal setting with children.

It is an important life skill to learn how to set realistic goals at every age.

Here are tips for how to approach goal setting with kiddos

1. Goals should be specific. Resolutions should be realistic, and something that can be done within a certain span of time. Instead of making goals, such as “we will eat better,” set a realistic goal to include vegetables with every dinner.

2. Modeling the behavior. Be open and honest about your own goals with your kiddo, so they know it is something adults do. If you’re excited about achieving goals your kiddo will notice.

3. Milestones. If you or your kiddo have a big goal, celebrate making progress towards that goal, and celebrate when it is achieved.

4. Reflection. Have kiddos start thinking about what they can do this year that they couldn’t do last year. For example, if last year they couldn’t read a whole book, but now with skill improvement, that is possible. Their goal could be to read a new book each month.

5. Small start. This is very important for first-time goal setters and younger kiddos. As children get older, they can make bigger goals, but they’ll benefit from creating small ones that lead toward the bigger goal.

6. Guidance. Guide them to create their goals, but do not dictate what goals they must accomplish. As they get older, kiddos can be part of the discussion to verbalize what they want to achieve. Offer suggestions, but let them choose. To get excited and make them want to complete their goal, have them control the decision.

7. Discuss progress. If a kiddo falls short, discuss it. What do you think you can do next time? How do you think you can prepare differently? Talk about times when you may have fallen short on a goal and discuss how you reflected and how you moved forward. It is crucial you acknowledge the child’s effort and how proud you are that they did their best.

8. Family goals. Family goals can include “unplugging” for certain evenings, taking time to read together or going on a family walk or hike weekly, or even making a commitment to clean the kitchen together.

Resolutions can be a great way to teach responsibility and follow-through. As children grow, their goals and responsibilities will naturally increase. Eventually, these actions will become habits and lead to their success in becoming a responsible, motivated adult.