How To Set A New Years Resolution For Kids

With the start of the year right around the corner, now is the perfect time to sit down and start talking about a New Years Resolution for Kids! This is a great way to help them make a plan and work daily to achieve that goal! The great thing about setting resolutions is that they’re composed of personal goals and ideas that are hoping to be met. Below you’ll find some fun ideas for kids New Years Resolutions that are great for varying ages.

After being inspired by my favorite Atomic Habits quotes I wanted to take these ideas and teach my kids a bit more about setting goals and working on habits.

Fun Ideas for A New Years Resolution For Kids

Resolutions can be hard – or fun, depending on what you want to set. And for kids, why not make them fun? The more resolutions that they can make, the more fun that they will have. Just be sure to talk to them about the point of a resolution and the importance of sticking to it once it’s set. Setting goals is important and puts you into a growth mindset..

How do you explain New Year’s resolution to a child?

Break it down in a way that is easy to understand. You can make a comparison to a goal that they set for a video game or for their grades in school. Basically, try and explain to them that a goal for New Year is something that they’re setting for themself to hope to achieve throughout the year.

Can you start over with trying to stay on track with resolutions?

Be ready – this might be a question that the kids ask! The answer? YES! If they have a goal about getting out of bed every day by 7 AM and miss it one day, that doesn’t mean that the whole month or year is ruined! Just have that conversation that tomorrow is a new day and a new way to start over.

Rules for Setting New Year’s Resolutions

There might not be any hard set boundaries for rules for kids for a new year resolution, but there are a few tips that I think are important to keep in mind.

Let your child make the resolution (( know – we want to help and guide but have them think up and create their own because then they’ll be invested in it more!)
Start with just one resolution and add more later
Make sure that it’s something attainable (We understand that kids love space, but making their resolution to travel to the moon isn’t realistic.)
Give them a few ideas to get started – or talk to them about what your resolution for the year is and why

Use these are guidelines to help – or branch off and do what works for you and your family.

New Year’s Resolutions For Kids

Below are some fun ideas for varying ages of kids. Maybe one of these will be perfect or maybe it will spark an idea for something else! Setting New Year’s goals for kids is a fun experience that they’ll actually look forward to.

Toddler New Year’s Resolutions

These New Year’s resolution activities for preschoolers are a great way to teach them responsibility and goal-setting skills.

Sharing a toy once a day
Reading a picture book daily
Picking up toys and putting them in the toybox
Going outside and running around the yard.
Eat more vegetables
Helping mommy take care of the animals
Waking up and brushing their teeth each morning
Remembering to say “please” and “thank you” every day
Start a sport like gymnastics, soccer, or basketball
“Working Out” with mommy or daddy each day

For this age group, it would be helpful to add some rewards for accomplishing their goals. Maybe after eating their vegetables for a month they get to go to the ice cream store.

New Year’s Resolutions for Middle School Students (and younger school-aged students, too!)

These will work for kids who are in school and are used to some sort of daily structure. Make sure to use them as a basis and alter them for what works best.

Make their bed daily
Help making breakfast
Have their bookbags packed and ready for school each morning
Complete their chore chart daily
Read at least 30 minutes per day
Book goals – maybe they want to read 1 book a month or 3 non-fiction books a year.
Drinking a certain amount of water each day
Watch more documentaries
Get 8 hours of sleep a day
Creating a device shut off period each day.
Get outside and explore daily
Keeping their room and space clean
Start a new hobby
Become more organized
Take care of getting their homework done before dinner each night

Family New Year Resolutions

It’s also super fun to create a resolution or family goal for the new year as well. This is something that tends to be quite popular because everyone works together in obtaining and achieving.