Share some of your goals with each other, and begin a conversation about what it looks like to achieve your goals. Share from your life and explain that people have many different pathways that they follow when trying to reach their goals. Some people take longer paths than others, or pursue different opportunities for achieving their goals. We all have different ways of getting to where we’re supposed to be, and that’s okay.

Let your Little know that one way we can make progress towards our goals is by identifying opportunities or experiences that can help us along the way. Then use the Opportunity Planning template to guide your conversation: you will each write a goal and identify opportunities you would like to explore. Use the question prompts to help you and your Little identify what opportunities might exist. 

For example, if your Little wanted to become a journalist, they might join a writing club and sign up for school newspaper while they’re in middle and high school. They might dream of studying journalism in college, and have ideas about where they want to enroll. If they don’t know what opportunities they have for gaining skills and experience, take time to help them come up with ideas.

You and your Little will each need a sheet of poster paper. Write your goal at the top of your poster paper. Explain to your Little that this opportunity board is a little different than vision boards: instead of creating a vision of their goal, your opportunity boards will show all of the opportunities that you want to explore as you work toward your goals. As you create your opportunity boards, you can draw, write, or cut and paste images to represent these different opportunities. See the example for a basic version of an opportunity board; these can be as simple or as complex and creative as you want. 

As you and your Little meet and hang out, help your Little get involved in the opportunities they depicted on their opportunity board. This may involve helping them enroll in related classes and activities, or planning outings to explore opportunities that aren’t provided at school. 

After exploring an opportunity, reflect with your Little about their experience:

1. What did they learn through this experience?

2. How did this experience affect their motivation or confidence to achieve their goal?

3. Is there anything about their goal—or their plans for achieving it—that they want to tweak after having this experience?

Encourage your Little to jot down their thoughts on a couple of sticky notes, and paste the notes on their opportunity board, next to their depiction of the opportunity.

• If your Little is feeling stuck or having a hard time thinking of potential opportunities, make transparent different types of opportunities they do have access to. You may do so by conducting a web search to learn about what is involved in accomplishing their goal. Then, help them brainstorm ways they can gain that experience in your local community.

• Additionally, it may be helpful to provide personal examples of how you or someone you know achieved a similar goal. You may research and share stories of people who have a shared background as your Little who also had the same type of goals. Or, if your Little is inspired by a story you tell about someone you know, consider offering to introduce your Little to this person, if appropriate.

• If your Little is not very interested in arts and crafts, consider using Canva to help you Little create a digital collage like the example included in this activity. Click here to learn more about using Canva.