This post is all about New Year’s resolutions for kids.

New Year’s Resolutions For Kids

New Year’s Resolutions don’t need to be reserved for adults only! Kids, even very young kids can benefit from setting New Year’s Resolutions. While you certainly don’t need to wait for a specific time of year to set new goals, the end of the year is a fantastic reminder and opportunity for people of all ages to reflect, and think about ways to improve. This post is mainly focusing on New Year’s Resolutions for kids that are preschool through elementary age.

Benefits Of Setting New Year’s Resolutions For Kids

There are many benefits to setting New Year’s Resolutions for kids, even very young kids! Self-Reflection and Goal Setting are amazing habits to instill from a young age.

Some key benefits of kids setting New Year’s resolutions include: teaching responsibility and accountability, encouraging independence, instilling a growth mindset, encouraging reflection and self awareness, and building confidence.

By setting small and achievable goals, kids gain a sense of accomplishment, and strengthen their self-esteem.

By setting and working on resolutions, kids learn how to commit to small tasks and build trust in their abilities. Over time, these habits build self-reliance and show kids that they can handle small tasks on their own. This is great for building independence and self-confidence.

How to Help Kids Set Simple Goals

Depending on your child’s age, you can introduce the idea of setting New Year Resolutions in various ways. For very small children, you can introduce the idea through conversation and play.

Utilizing simple prompts like “What’s something new you’d like to learn” can help jump-start the conversation. Through conversation you can determine what your child wants to learn about, or something they’d like to be able to do. It’s really fun to make those little discoveries about your child’s interests that may not have otherwise come up.

When helping your your child set their New Years Resolutions, be sure it’s THEIR goal, not yours. Let them come up with something on their own. You can help guide them, and even give them ideas if they’re struggling, but let them have the final choice in what their New Year’s Resolution is going to be.

When they feel it’s a goal that they set for themselves, rather than something their parent told them to work on, they will be more inclined to stick to their goal.

Age-Appropriate New Year’s Resolutions for Kids (Examples)

Here are some ideas for New Year’s Resolutions For Kids. In your conversations you can help lead them to some of these examples if they are having trouble coming up with ideas completely on their own. These examples also offer specific benefits to their personal growth. As you’ll see, they are all small and realistic New Year’s Resolutions for small kids.

Social Skills:

• I will say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ every day.
• I will share my toys with my friends
• I will play with someone new at school

These example goals encourage manners, empathy, and social development.

Self-Care and Independence:

• I will brush my teeth twice every day
• I will put my toys away every night before bed
• I will take my dinner plate to the sink every night
• I will put my shoes away every day

These example goals build routine, responsibility, and independence.

Trying New Things and Building Confidence

• I will try one new food each month
• I will play a new game
• I will learn a new activity
• I will read one new book every week

These example goals encourage curiosity, resilience, and a sense of adventure.

Kindness and Gratitude Goals

• I will tell my family I love them every day
• I will compliment someone every day
• I will say something I am thankful for every night before bed

These example goals foster positive relationships and gratitude.

These are all just some basic examples of age-appropriate New Year’s Resolutions for kids. I encourage you to explore various ideas specific to your child, and their personality and goals.

Tips for Making Resolutions Stick

So you helped your child set some New Year’s Resolutions, now you need to help them stick to those resolutions! As long as you followed the advice of setting small and realistic New Year’s Resolutions for kids, helping them to stick to those goals is totally doable.

In addition to using Goal Trackers, parents are encouraged to celebrate small milestones along the way.

For example, let’s say their goal is to put their toys away before bed every night. If they’ve successfully put their toys away every night for a whole week, that would be a great time to pause and express what a good job they’re doing. Reflect on how this has made things better for them. They’ve put their toys away every night on their own, so it’s eliminated the arguing about putting away toys, it’s allowed them to wake up in morning to a clean space. And perhaps something that may hit closer to home for them, is that by putting their toys away each night, less toys get lost, and they always know where their favorites are!

If they make it a whole month, or six months sticking to their goal, you might consider giving them a reward. Whether its a special lunch, a new toy, or whatever else you may see fit. This will help keep things positive, and help to avoid your child losing interest in their resolutions as the weeks go by.

Concluding New Year’s Resolutions For Kids:

Setting New Year’s resolutions with kids can be a powerful tool for fostering growth, confidence, and positive habits that will benefit them for years to come. Simple, age-appropriate goals encourage responsibility, independence, and self-reflection, helping kids to feel proud of their accomplishments along the way. Whether it’s learning to say “thank you,” trying new foods, or lending a hand with chores, these resolutions build essential skills that support their development in a fun, engaging way.

As parents, guiding kids through the process of setting and achieving goals not only strengthens family bonds but also creates lasting memories and traditions. Start small, celebrate each milestone, and most importantly, enjoy watching your child grow with each little goal they achieve. Here’s to a new year filled with learning, laughter, and a lot of progress—one small step at a time!