Goal Setting for Kids: Five Activities to Learn How to Set Goals

The skill of setting goals is critical to success. Goals are like lighthouses that help us navigate the stormy seas of life without getting lost or shipwrecked. Goals help us shape our lives actively and responsibly. Goals fill our everyday actions with deeper meaning and purpose.

And goals aren't just for adults.

Setting goals has been proven to boost motivation and focus in all areas of life, at any age. Yes, even babies have goals, such as reaching for a toy or finally standing up to see all the interesting things on the coffee table.

Goals are what makes life meaningful. Instead of just moving from one day to the next, a goal-driven person acts with enthusiasm and purpose because they know exactly where they're going.

Goal setting also helps kids and teens gain a sense of control over their lives. Instead of passively obeying their parents and teachers, they work toward self-defined goals.

Last but not least, goal setting is a skill. And like any skill, it's a good idea to start mastering it as early as possible.

Academic performance requires focus, motivation, prioritizing, and time management skills, all of which depend on clear, well-defined goals.

Short-term goals with immediate rewards provide motivation and help deal with unpleasant or boring tasks, whereas long-term academic goals give a sense of direction and purpose.

Even though the principles of goal setting are the same at any age, you can't bombard your 3-year-old with long-term career goals or annoy your teenager with games like "if you fold your laundry, I'll let you watch TV longer." Here are some age-specific tips.

Elementary students are just learning the ins and outs of goal setting and time management. Help them set attainable, rewarding goals and celebrate every achievement!

Don't just focus on short-term goals. Encourage your kids to think big. Help them discover potential careers they might be passionate about and let them take part in discussing your family's goals.

Being a teen is hard. Balancing school work, family commitments, and personal goals is already exhausting. And then you've got those big dreams and ambitions that fascinate and overwhelm you at the same time, so you don't even know where to start. No wonder teenagers are so tired most of the time.

Goal setting for teens should focus on breaking down those big goals into actionable steps while also managing the competing demands of school, family, and peers.

Goal setting for kids is goal setting with kids. Working on your goals together teaches your child valuable life skills and empowers them to make their own decisions. Try these goal-setting activities and enjoy the results!

Achieving goals starts with setting them. Ideally, follow a time-proven framework that's widely used in management, such as SMART. SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

For example, "keep your room clean" is not a SMART goal. It's not objectively measurable (everyone has a different standard of tidiness) and actually not achievable. Let's be honest, no room is tidy 100% of the time unless no one lives there.

"Make a daily habit of tidying up for five minutes every day" is a good example of a SMART goal for kids. It's specific, measurable, achievable (anyone can find five minutes in their schedule), relevant, and time-bound. And five minutes are enough to maintain a room that doesn't look like an abandoned warehouse.

Goals that largely depend on luck (such as winning a contest) sound ambitious but can be frustrating and counterproductive in the long run. Choose goals that are achieved through consistent effort.

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry said that a goal without a plan is just a wish.

So help your child break their goals down into actionable, measurable steps, and make a timeline for these steps. It should be strict but allow some flexibility in case something unexpected happens.

Even though "measurable steps" sounds like corporate jargon, kids actually understand the concept very well. After all, their achievements are regularly measured and evaluated at school.

A timeline also helps order the steps in a logical way so that your child can focus on one step at a time without losing sight of the bigger picture.

Rewards are one of the key driving forces behind motivation. When setting goals for kids, immediate and visible rewards are even more important. After all, no one is going to do their math homework just because in 20 years they might become an engineer and land a well-paying job at a famous company. This sounds pretty rewarding to an adult but distant and abstract to a child.

When setting goals with your child or teenager, discuss the kinds of rewards that would motivate them, and let them choose. Don't argue over rewards unless they're entirely unreasonable (like a $200 LEGO set for reading a 10-page chapter).

Even professional project managers can't make sure that everything always goes according to plan. No matter how detailed your plan is, something can always get in the way. An injury can seriously derail the achievement of sports-related goals. Achieving an urgent, high-priority goal can push the less important goals into the background.

When you and your child feel that things are not going according to plan, have an open and honest conversation about it. Don't try to blame each other — it will only make both of you defensive and unwilling to cooperate. Instead, help your child adjust the plan to the new circumstances.

When your child achieves a goal, make it a really big deal. You don't have to organize a week-long celebration because your teen passed a math test, but going out for dinner or watching their favorite movie with the entire family can be a fun way to celebrate an achievement.

Make your child feel that they've really accomplished something worthwhile. Even if it seems like a minor achievement to you, it may be an important milestone for them, so let them have fun. After all, they've earned it.

You need goals to give your life a sense of direction and accomplishment, and so do your kids. Teach them goal-setting skills as early as possible to set them up for a lifetime of success!