Tips for Teaching Kids About Goal-Setting

My four year old son is shy – he’s not that kid that readily joins a playing group of kids. He hangs back, watches for a while. With organized sports, he has always struggled, mostly because joining in doesn’t come easily for him. When the idea of soccer camp this summer came up, we realized this would be a great goal for him, both improving in soccer and playing cooperatively on a team. It’s a goal I want to help him both celebrate and achieve.

So, in the spirit of the big soccer games this summer (we’re rooting for Italy!!), we are teaching our son to celebrate his goals and work hard to achieve them. As part of that, we’ll be spending time as a family and enjoying the summer together. This summer goal is not complete without the right healthy essentials from Walgreens. This summer, Walgreens is helping me stay well-stocked for all our goals. If you’re a Balance Rewards Member, like me, there’s even extra incentive to stock up. You can earn 3,000 points when you buy select $15 in select J&J products. See your Walgreens for a special endcap display where you can find all of your summer essentials!

In preparation for camp, we’re encouraging our son to get outdoors and pratice his skills. By participating with him and having his sisters cheer him on, we’re helping to build his confidence. Along the way, there will be bumps or scrapes that he (or his littlest fans) get, but we’re learning to get back up and try again.

Speaking of fans, the littlest of spectators are on hand to help their brother celebrate his goals, safely protected from the summer sun, of course!

And my son is now old enough to understand the importance of preventing painful sunburn, so he loves being able to help keep up with his own skin protection.

As for Mom & Dad, we’re much better goal coaches when our allergies aren’t bugging us. So, to stay in the game, we make sure we have Zyrtec on hand to combat the allergies and keep up with our active little ones. They don’t stop for sniffles or sneezes.

Overall, it’s about helping each other celebrate goals while having a great time!

Is your child ready to start setting goals?

For my son, we talked about what he wanted to accomplish and the idea of that being a goal. We brainstormed the tasks or steps needed to achieve a goal. Here are some steps you can take with your child to help them set their own goals, no matter how big or small:

ASK – Talk about interests and what your child is excited about achieving. Discuss the idea of seeing an outcome for oneself. For my son, it was playing soccer on a team in the fall. That was motivation to work hard.

PLAN – With an outcome in mind, discuss the steps that will need to be completed in order to achieve the child’s goal. We used a goal-setting worksheet to help our son visualize and list the steps to his goal. You can download the free printable here.

COMMITMENT – Talk about commitment and accountability and the idea of following through on goals. Be sure your child understands there may be some hard work involved. In this digital age, kids are used to getting access to things immediately and sometimes bigger goals just don’t happen overnight.

SUPPORT – Do what you can to help build confidence and show your child that you are in their corner, ready to help them reach their goals.