The New Year is almost upon us, and you know what that means—it’s time to set for your kids to set their New Year’s resolutions! However, setting a New Year’s resolution and keeping a New Year’s resolution are two different stories. We all have those moments where we told ourselves we’d start working out on January 1st, and by February 1st, our treadmills have collected dust.
So, how can you help your kids to be more successful with their resolutions? Here are a few tips:
Be specific
Research has shown that the more specific your goals are, the more likely you are to achieve them. If your child wants to be more active, simply stating their goal as “exercise more” won’t cut it. Instead, encourage your child to be specific about their goals. For example, instead of saying “exercise more,” they could say, “I will play soccer every other day for 30 minutes.”
Break a big goal up into smaller chunks
Big goals, while ambitious, can be intimidating. Even if your child wants to play soccer every other day for 30 minutes, going from playing no soccer to a lot is difficult. Start small and work your way up. So, you can have the over-arching resolution be to play soccer every other day for 30 minutes, have your child start January by playing soccer once a week, and working their way up each month.
Set a reward
Your kids will feel motivated to complete their resolutions on January 1st, but they’ll feel much different on February 1st. To stay motivated, set a reward for meeting their New Year’s resolution. If you’re breaking your big goal up into smaller chunks, have a small reward for each stage and then a big reward for the end of the year.
At The Zoo Factory, we hope everyone manages to create and stick to their New Year’s resolution in 2021! And what better reward for a year of hard work than a lovable, stuffable animal? Take a look through our inventory to get started!
