New Years Resolutions for kids

It’s new year’s resolutions time, and it’s the perfect time to help kids set goals and work on personal growth too! Here are tons of great New Year’s Resolutions for Kids to help spark New Year’s Resolution ideas for kids of all ages!

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We love to break out our goals worksheets as adults and use the fresh start of the new year to make some New Year resolutions. But as our kids have grown, we’re learning they also love reflecting on the past year and making some new goals. I think it’s a great thing to teach kids of any age that they can learn new skills, achieve things they want, and develop a sense of accomplishment.

As the new year approaches, but sure to include the kids and let them make their own New Year’s resolutions! They make need a little help, but this is a great opportunity to use the start of a new year to help kids accomplish their own goals and learn a new skill or two while they do!

If kids are ready to make their own resolutions and need some New Year’s resolution ideas, we have you covered with some great ideas and easy ways to help them get involved in setting goals for the next year.

New Year’s Resolution Goal Template and Free Printable

Tips for Setting Kids Up for Success

• Help them make realistic goals
• Remind them to set SMART Goals: that would be a specific goal that’s measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound.
• Make sure there are smaller steps to achieve the goal
• Let kids come up with their own ideas
• Write down goals
• Display goals where they can be seen
• Create a family goal the whole family can work on together
• Make sure they are age-appropriate goals
• Point out small positive changes
• Have fun keeping track
• Choose positive things to work on
• Set a fun goal together

Goal setting isn’t just for adults, it’s a great way to help kids learn good habits and gain self-esteem while they work towards goals. New Year’s if the perfect time to help kids set goals.

Great Goals for Preschoolers:

Pick up toys every day

One way to help them learn great habits and long-term goals is with small daily activities. Get the sticker chart ready and remind them to get in the habit of picking up toys every day/every night before they go to bed.

Brush teeth and learn to floss

Practice makes perfect, and sticker charts or apps can help make this a great habit!

Learn to ride a bike

This will likely involve some parent time. But put some time on the calendar and help them get serious about this new skill.

Work on. Manners

Set an official goal to practice good manners and be kind to others. Model behavior, and in the coming months make sure kids get some great chances to practice. You could have them try a phone call, thank everyone for coming over, or practice saying please and thank you more often.

Try at least one bite of new foods at each meal

This is a fantastic way to help kids learn to be more open-minded and less of a picky eater.

Learn their parent’s phone number

Hello, safety and an important memorization skill!

Learn letter sounds

Help them build their reading foundation, and work on letter sounds. Kids who have a hard time reading often don’t have this solid foundation. When kids reach age four (or five), it’s a perfect time to put some time and work into letter sounds.

Practice writing their name

Make this fun, and let them practice learning or improving handwriting from the previous year by focusing on their name.

New Year’s Resolutions for Kids in Elementary School

Spend more time outdoors

It’s a great thing to plan more recreation and time away from screens.

Learn a new skill

Help them find some new excitement for a skill like playing an instrument or coding. Make a plan to help learn the new skill.

Try a new hobby,

It’s a great idea to try a new hobby like playing sports or art.

Read one new book each month.

If your kids are reading chapter books, it’s a good idea to help them keep reading with this goal. Plus, by the end of the year you’ll have 12 books they can report on and be proud of reading!

Read for 30 Minutes a Day.

Sometimes a time frame and a timer is the best way to help kids become stronger readers.

Master a common core concept for their age group.

Is it a year for times tables? Are they supposed to know a list of sight words? Teachers often send home lists at the start of the year. You can easily email at the beginning of a new year asking for a refresh or helpful ways to help them focus on the common core. This helps with success rates in school, and it’s the perfect opportunity to help set your kids up for success and self-confidence.

Help out around the house more often.

Help them come up with a simple way they can help around the house. Then let them think of several more. It’s amazing how making it a goal they check off helps kids start to see easy ways to be more helpful. And I truly believe there’s no better place to teach kindness than at home helping with simple tasks.

Eat healthier meals and snacks.

Help set healthy habits and health goals by learning about food recommendations and planning some meals and snacks.

Plan and make a meal for the entire family.

It’s a great skill to know how to meal plan, and it’s a great time to teach kids this skill!

Increase physical activity levels and participation.

Help kids find exercise classes, and sports, or plan family walks and bike rides. We love using GoNoodle for rainy days or hot days at home. Also, gifting a kid’s Garmin has been the best gift to help our kid focus on small goals that add up to better fitness and activity levels.

Get Organized

Get better organized by setting up a homework or project plan. Help set those long-lasting habits and make it an official goal.

Plan for School Sucess

Aim to do better in school or practice more to reach personal goals.

Plan Social Goals

Make time for family and friends. Social skills are developed at a young age, and it’s a great resolution to make new friends or spend time with each family member.

Plan a fun family activity

This is a fun way to plan some family connections. Help kids have a say with family activities and the resolution process by taking a turn planning a fun family outing.

Cut back on screen time

Set limits and timers, find new activities, and help kids make some healthy goals around screen time. Often, a reasonable time frame and an understanding of why it’s important to limit screen time go a long way! An official goal and concentrated effort can make all the difference!

Making the Most of Resolutions

This is a great way to start the year on the right foot and help kids grow! But be sure to be sensitive to their needs and realistic too. Here are a fun extra tips we’ve found work really well when you’re including kids in New Year’s resolutions.

Plan Fun New Year’s Resolutions Too!

I can’t emphasize enough how fun it is to use the first week of the new year to plan some fun! Set up a family meeting, and talk about what everyone would like to do. It’s a great way to make sure everyone buys into family outings. It’s also a way to make sure kids are excited about the intentional fun and feel included in family planning.

We always sit down as a family and let everyone choose one family date they’d like to do together. In previous years, our kids just grin from ear to ear when it was their turn for an outing!

Need some inspiration? Check out these posts!

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Tips for Younger Children

• Small children may need visuals. Many can’t read, and a visual helps them make sense of the new way of thinking. Take an abstract concept and let them visually see the goal and the progress.
• Get Sticker Charts
• Find things they can work on in the short term. Focus on those!
• Be Realistic. I know it’s been mentioned already, but it deserves mention again! Kids have short attention spans, and anything that takes more than a half hour likely won’t fly. Be super realistic about their abilities.
• Pivot! If something isn’t working, toss it. Find a new goal. Change it up and make it doable and achievable for them.

Tips for Older Children

• Make sure they have check-ins. Teens are notorious for procrastinating or getting excited about something new and then forgetting. Hey, that sounds a lot like adults too! If you have older kids, set a regular check-in to report on goals.
• Use the buddy system. A little peer pressure sometimes helps them feel more motivated. If they have a friend, parent, or sibling to check in with, it can make a big difference!
• Let them set their own goals. Feel free to suggest ideas, but at the end of the day, it’s THEIR goal and their achievement. They’ll be a lot more motivated if they choose it.
• Included rewards. These don’t have to cost a penny, but they certainly can! I know many teenagers who earned an Eagle Scout or made the honor roll because there was a bribe.
• Write it down and break it down. Use the SMART Goals system, and help them reverse engineer a plan to achieve the goals in a realistic timeframe.
• Don’t make it about weight. I can’t say this enough. I’m not a dietician or child therapist, but I do know putting an emphasis on weight or healthy eating that’s forced on a kid is just not okay. If they want to get healthier, gently help with a reasonable and realistic plan. But please don’t ever make this about weight, and please don’t create eating disorders and low self-esteem.
• Stay positive. Kids are hard on themselves, particularly as they grow up. Make sure to assume a cheerleader and coach role more than a hall monitor role.

We hope these help your family and your kids get some ideas for New Year’s Resolutions for kids. May you have a happy New Year and a fun end to your winter break!

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