How to Set Goals to Improve Physical Health: Pre-K SEL Activity

Goal-setting is a crucial part of self-improvement. It provides direction, meaning, and motivation that make progress possible. Pre-kindergartners can benefit from goal-setting, especially when it comes to physical health, as it keeps them in check and determined.

In this social-emotional learning lesson, pre-kindergartners learn how to create goals for their physical health. It starts with a class activity centered around the "For Our Bodies" picture in the "Goals" poster, featuring a boy who sets a goal to learn how to ride a bike.

In this activity, the students set their own goals, which they all strive to practice and achieve together during the lesson. As they do so, they learn that achieving their goals and improving themselves require the courage to try and the patience to do it one step at a time.

The lesson finishes with the students marking their names off the Positive Behavior Chart as a commitment to physical goal-setting.

In helping students set their physical health goals, teachers can encourage them to create a plan that ensures success. For this, students can be encouraged to identify areas where they need improvement. For example, if they have a habit of eating too much sugar or processed salt, their teachers can guide them on what physical positive action to take, such as creating a healthy diet plan with their guardians.

It's not just about individual effort either—schools and educators can model physical health and improvement, creating a safe school environment that supports pre-kindergartners’s goals. By doing so, they can help children develop a lifelong appreciation for physical health and the benefits of setting and achieving goals.