LifeSkills Handbook Activity 47
This is a single activity session plan from The Lifeskills Handbook. There are 61 activity sessions altogether. The handbook is available from our resources section where you’ll also find downloadable storybooks, books and posters to help you in your work.
LifeSkills Handbooks Activity 47
Reaching the Goal
Purpose of Activity: To practice setting and accomplishing short-term goals
Life Skills: Creative Thinking, Critical Thinking
Important Points
Link this activity with Activity 46: Setting Short-term Goals. Setting goals is a useful skill to have especially when life is confusing or difficult. This is also the most difficult time to set goals! Educators need to encourage children to help each other set goals.
Materials
- Poster of a football pitch
- Strips of paper for all the children
Steps
- Put the poster of the football pitch where everyone can see it.
- Ask children to write or draw one short-term goal on the card (something to achieve before the next meeting). Depending on the age or stage of the child, these can be small or medium goals. For example:
- keeping my hands clean
- saying something good about my life to my friend every day
- controlling my anger for one week
- doing something helpful at the centre once per day
- giving up smoking for one week
- Children then find a friend and discuss their goal. If they want to, they can change it.
- Each child then sticks or places their goal onto the football pitch near the centre.
- Explain that in the next meeting they will show if they have:
- not met their goal,
- partly met their goal
- fully met their goal or not, or to what extent.
- Then they can move their cards closer to or into the goal.
Final discussion
- How would a timeout be useful in real life? (A timeout is used in basketball: it is a short period of time during the play when the teams can stop to discuss tactics.) How could you gain timeouts for yourself? (When you are under pressure to do something, you could ask for more time to think about it or to complete it.)
- In most games, there are fouls and penalties. What are the fouls in your real life? (Things that stop you reaching the goal: getting sick; getting into trouble, getting drunk).
- What happens when a sports-person tries and fails to score a goal? (Try harder, more team-work, become frustrated, try a new position etc.)
- Have you ever thought having goals before? Is it useful to set goals? Why/why not?
- When is it useful to set goals?
- Can you help others set goals? When is a good time to do this?