Create a Vision Board With Your Kids
Visualization can be a powerful mental exercise in helping you define what you want, sense it, and believe that you can accomplish it. There are stories of this working on a large scale (Ever heard of Jim Carrey writing himself a $ 10 million acting check before he became famous?), But you can also use this technique to help your kids present your dreams and goals.
Vision boards can be a truly positive and uplifting way for children to learn to believe in themselves. It is a tactile, visual version of “you can do whatever you want” because it serves as a regular reminder of what they hope for in the future and how they can achieve it.
Collect your supplies
To make a render board with your kids, you’ll need a few basic supplies, as well as access to a range of images for them to choose from. Here are some suggested materials, but you can use both basic and creative ones:
- Poster board, cork board, or sheet of cardboard
- Markers
- Stencils
- Scissors
- Glue, glue sticks, tape, or pushpins.
- Magazines
- Newspaper
- A computer and printer, if possible, to print out any pictures or words they cannot find or draw.
Help them imagine
Children are mostly living things, but creating a visualization board is a great opportunity to talk to them about both short-term and long-term dreams and goals. This does not mean that we want to force a 10-year-old to choose his future career right this second , but he may start thinking about what inspires them or what they would like to achieve.
Here are some questions they can start with:
- Which famous celebrities, athletes or leaders inspire you? Why?
- What words or phrases do you like best?
- Where would you like to go when you grow up?
- Where would you like to live?
- What impact would you like to have on the world?
Put it all together
Encourage them to fill the visualization board with bright, colorful images, pictures, and words. Journalist and blogger Jennifer Borget set a really great example here with her five-year-old daughter. You can also search Pinterest with your kids for additional inspiration and ideas.
Be sure to emphasize that visions change over time – the goals and dreams they have now can adapt as they get older, and that’s okay. This is just a starting point for thinking about who they are and what they want to achieve.