A Vision Board for Kids: How to Encourage Your Little One to Dream Big

Are you looking to inspire your kiddo to dream big? My oldest is naturally very goal oriented, and fits all the birth order stereotypes. Even at just seven years old, she loves to plan for her future. A vision board for kids is the perfect creative way to get your child thinking for the future.

One thing I love about a vision board is that they can continually refer to it. Choose a space in their bedroom or closet where they can easily see it. Be sure to discuss the vision board with your child and help them reach the goals that are important to them.

Need a visual schedule for your kids who aren’t reading well yet? It sure does help with transitions!

Who would benefit from a vision board?

Most creative kids love to design their own poster board for any purpose. The kids who benefit most from a vision board are those who are struggling to find their way. Perhaps they have lots of talent but don’t have a strong sense of possibility. Maybe they are wasting potential by getting distracted by unhealthy pursuits.

Giving kids time to focus on their future will help them define their goals, make a plan to reach them, and take ownership of their future.

Big Life Journal has an entire guide to helping kids create a board similar to the one I’ve described here. They call it a “Big Life Board.”

Vision Board Worksheet for Students PDF

Before kids can begin to work on a poster board, most will need some planning time. The average child doesn’t sit around planning for the future, or even spend much time daydreaming about it. This document will help the possibilities come into focus.

The vision board planning PDF asks the following questions:

• What supplies will I need for my board? What color scheme will I use?
• What goals will I accomplish?
• What steps will I take to accomplish these goals?
• What will I do with my time?
• How will I serve others?

Click the blue button below to get the document emailed to you for free.

Check out these 16 powerful self esteem activities for kids.

What should be on a vision board for kids?

Vision boards are usually a visual representation of a child’s future, depicted with specific words and images. There will be plenty of images, whether cut from a magazine or printed from the internet. Here are some things you might include on a vision board:

• Words clipped from a catalogue or magazine that describe the type of person they want to be: i.e. honest, hardworking, compassionate
• Images that represent how they’ll spend their time – perhaps a violin, books, football, a drum set, or even praying hands
• Pictures that depict how they’ll benefit their community – maybe a soup kitchen, dog walking, or serving elderly people in some capacity (assuming volunteering is important to your family)
• Goals they’ll reach – an image of a trophy with a short description, a picture of a report card, etc.

Mind Over Latte has a recipe for putting together a digital vision board for kids.

I’ve got over 20 free and editable chore charts for kids! Check ’em out.

How do you make a simple vision board?

Making a vision board is simple. Check out this simple step-by-step process.

1. Complete the free planning PDF.

You can begin by completing my freebie PDF that will help kids plan for their goals and create a vision for their future.

2. Gather supplies.

• Completed planning PDF (available here)
• White poster board*
• Frame, if desired
• A collection of magazines or catalogues
• Color prints of relevant images from the internet
• Scissors
• Glue stick or bottle of Elmer’s glue
• Markers in your chosen color scheme
• Pencil

*Will you use a simple white poster board that gets thumb-tacked to a huge cork board or even your child’s bedroom wall? If you’d like to display something a little classier, you can always select a nice oversized frame and cut your poster to size.

3. Cut poster to correct size, if necessary.

If you’re planning to use a nice frame, you’ll want to use a ruler or yardstick and a pencil to cut your poster so that it will fit your frame.

4. Gather images and letters.

Beginning with your catalogues and magazines, search for fonts or images that you love. Cut out letters to form entire words that inspire (think: effort, straight As, friend) in unique fonts.

Cut out images of things you want as a part of your future. For example, if you put on your planning PDF that you plan to spend lots of time riding horses in the future, a beautiful picture of a horse found in a magazine or on the internet would be lovely to include.

5. Artfully arrange everything on the poster.

Choose the most important words and images, and center those on the poster. Then, arrange everything else so that it looks exactly the way you want it.

6. Edit and try again.

You’ll almost never get it right on the first try. Perhaps you’ll arrange everything and then decide two of your colors clash.

Maybe, you’ll notice that something taking up the most space visually isn’t actually that important to you, and it just feels WRONG.

For example, it would be totally normal to find an oversized picture of a horse, and put right in the middle, because you want to ride horses someday and it’s a large image. But maybe that’s not as important to you as basketball, which has been relegated to a tiny corner of your page. Even though it looks nice, it just doesn’t represent YOU.

It’s perfectly okay to remove certain images and words and try again.

6. Glue everything down.

Once you’ve got everything just perfect, begin gluing. If it’s a glue stick, you won’t make too much of a mess. If you’re using bottle glue, be mindful of not overdoing it.

7. Dry and hang the project.

Wait until everything is completely dry before hanging up your project, whether it’s going to be bare on the wall or framed. Make sure to hang it somewhere that it will be referenced often.

Cherish 365 chose a beautiful blue poster board for her project, and bright colors everywhere!

Using the Vision Board to Reach Goals

My freebie PDF planning worksheet helps kids turn their vision for the future into tangible goals they can use today.

Make sure to periodically ask your kids about their vision board, and find out if they’re feeling successful with their goals. The expectation is that if kids keep the vision board available to them and prominently displayed, they’ll learn to backwards plan their way to success.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions occasionally, like, “Hey! I was just admiring your vision board again yesterday, and one of your words was FRIENDSHIP, but you haven’t had anyone over to hang out in a while. Want me to help you plan something?”

Building a Vision Board for Kids – Final Thoughts

Creating a vision board for kids requires some enthusiasm from your child. If your kiddo isn’t interested, don’t even bother! Just show them some examples, provide materials, and then let them take the lead.