Making New Year’s resolutions in kindergarten can be an awesome activity! Resolutions fall right in line with teaching students how to develop a growth mindset.
One of the reasons that I love teaching kindergarten is the ability to introduce new and interesting concepts. I love laying the foundation and watching them grow! This applies perfectly to goal setting, which is not a natural concept for a 5 or 6-year-old. Despite this, when you explain how to make realistic goals in a step-by-step manner they latch on to the idea and go for it!
New Year’s Resolutions in Kindergarten Lesson
To start the lesson, we brainstormed 3 different lists: things to try, things to learn, and things to improve. Goal setting doesn’t come naturally for most students, and they need guidance and examples as to what constitutes a reasonable goal.
Stretching Ourselves Resolutions
In this category, I tell students to focus on pushing themselves and getting out of their comfort zone. These goals are all about being brave!
- New foods (good for picky eaters)
- Swinging across the monkey bars
- Going on the tall slide
- Raising your hand more in class
Learning Resolutions
These are things that students maybe haven’t done yet but are willing to try.
- Learn to swim
- Learn to tie their shoes (win-win for you!)
- Practice ice skating
- Read at a level C
- Subtract up to number 10
Improvement Resolutions
These goals lend themselves to behavior management both at home and at school.
- Turn in my homework every week
- Make my bed every day
- Use kind words with my friends
- Help my mom with the laundry
In the resource I’m about to share, I’ve included 3 blank pages for you to brainstorm together as a class and develop some solid goal ideas. You can project the paper onto the whiteboard and write the list together.
The biggest challenge is getting the students to understand a realistic goal. Kindergarten students are famous for their one-upmanship! One student says they want to learn how to count to 100, then the next one says they want to count to one million. Creating achievable goals is key!
After we brainstormed, I asked them to pick one goal for school and one goal for home, whichever they would like. It doesn’t have to be from the list we created, but it does have to be realistic.
This exercise is great for laying the groundwork for a growth mindset and getting them to focus on personal goals. Kindergarten students think everything happens around them and is controlled by other people. They are just beginning to understand that their actions and what they focus on help to determine the outcome of their goals!
Grab your free copy of New Year’s Resolutions in Kindergarten by filling out the information below and get to work on goal setting!
Companion Books for New Year’s Resolutions in Kindergarten
Below I’m listing some great books that you could read before this writing lesson. They all focus on developing a growth mindset, setting goals, and working hard to achieve your vision!
- Your Fantastic Elastic Brain by JoAnn Deak
- The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires
- Perfect Ninja by Mary Nhin
- Brave Irene by William Steig
Need some additional winter resources? Check out my winter-themed activities!
- Winter Sensory Bin Math Centers
- Winter Sensory Bin Literacy Centers
- January Early Finisher Task Cards for Kindergarten
- January Boom Card Math and Phonics Centers
When students come back in January they are ready for some more challenging writing activities and this New Year’s resolution in kindergarten activity is a perfect place to start. Building writing confidence in kindergarten students is a challenging task! Fun and engaging activities around holidays like New Year’s, Saint Patrick’s Day, and Easter help to grow excitement around their budding writing skills!
