A new year can be a fresh start, making it the perfect time to teach, practice, and build executive functioning skills together. From goal-setting to end of the day reflections, there are countless way to strengthen skills like planning, organization, attention, and self-regulation with your learners. Most importantly, learning about executive functioning skills doesn’t have to be boring – These activities can be both fun and engaging for kids, helping them to feel empowered with the new start to the year ahead.
Review Executive Functioning Skills
The beginning of the year is always a great to review executive functioning skills for success. Remind students that executive functioning skills are the foundational skills that help us accomplish every days and meet our goals. Building these skills can help us do better in all different areas of our lives. For example, building focus strategies doesn’t just help you study for tests; it can also help you listen more attentively to friends and work effectively on goals that matter to you.
Here are some of the executive functioning skills we use often:
- Planning – Thinking ahead and choosing a strategy for a task or goal before you start.
- Organization – Having systems to keep materials neat and orderly.
- Metacognition – Thinking about your own thinking. This means having awareness of what you know, don’t know, and what you need to be successful.
- Task Initiation – The ability to get started on tasks right away.
- Time Management – Using strategies to start tasks, responsibilities, and goals right away.
- Attention – Your ability to focus on a person or task for a period of time.
- Flexibility – Effectively coping with change. This is your ability to go with the flow when things don’t go perfectly as planned.
- Self-Control – Being able to stop and think before making a choice.
- Perseverance – Sticking with a goal until it’s completed. In other words, this means not giving up, even when something is challenging.
Take time to review and discuss each of the skills. You can even ask executive functioning brain-booster questions to get kids and teens thinking about how they use these abilities in their everyday lives.
Discuss Healthy Habits for Success
The beginning of a new year is a great time to revisit healthy habits for success. Simple behaviors – like getting to bed early and managing technology usage – can play a huge role in attention, self-control, and perseverance through challenges. Ultimately, these healthy habits lay the foundation, and they’re worth discussing. We all need reminders from time to time, and the new year is the perfect time to do it.
- Focus on high-quality sleep.
- Exercise.
- Spend quality time with friends and family.
- Practice mindfulness.
- Practice self-compassion.
- Make time for activities you enjoy.
- Write in a journal.
- Develop goals.
- Give yourself digital breaks.
Set Meaningful Goals
Instead of working on new year’s resolutions, target goal-setting activities with kids and teens. Ask students to make a list of some things they’d like to accomplish in the coming weeks and months. You can even brainstorm a list on the board together; start with a list of ideas – these don’t need to be perfect! Just a list of ways to grow, learn, or accomplish something: improve math grade, join an after school club, learn how to paint with watercolors, choose a few colleges to visit, read 2 books in a month, or reduce social media time.
Have each student choose something important to them. Then, teach them how to turn their idea into a SMART goal – specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-based.
Once students have a specific and measurable goal in mind, have them write it down and list steps to help them achieve that goal. You can keep this form in a goal binder, revisiting it each week to check in on how students are doing towards their goal.
When it comes to developing meaningful goals, one of the most important components is to remind students that they are in charge of their choices. If they want to work on their basketball skills, they can put in the work and learn new strategies. If they want to do better in a certain class, they can meet with the teacher and spend extra time studying. Working on goals provides practice for executive functioning skills like planning and perseverance, but it also helps empower students in their everyday lives.
Create Vision Boards
Encourage students to plan for their futures with the power of a vision board. Using old magazines, students can clip out words, pictures, and phrases that symbolize what they want for their future. This opens the door for some meaningful questions and conversations:
- What matters to you in your life?
- What motivates you to keep working your best?
- What goals are you working for?
- What do you have to achieve in 1, 5, or 10 years from now?
- What do you hope to see in your future?
Once finished with this SEL-art activity, students can keep their visions boards in their desks or lockers to keep them motivated.
Try a 5-4-3-2-1 Countdown
Use a 5-4-3-2-1 countdown activity to start off the new year in a fun way. The idea is really simple:
- List 5 words you want the new year to stand for.
- List 4 people or things you are grateful for.
- List 3 coping strategies to help you manage stress this year.
- List 2 ways you hope to improve or grow.
- Say 1 positive statement to yourself to start the year off strong.
You can do this as a quick activity, or turn it into a full New Year’s lesson and activity.
Develop a Mindfulness Practice
Mindfulness is an evidence-based technique to boost executive functioning skills. It has the power to build focus, cultivate calm, and strengthen self-regulation. It’s a worthwhile strategy for everyone to learn. While you can practice mindfulness in many different ways, one of the simplest ways is to sit, let your body relax, and focus on your breathing. Notice the feeling as you inhale and exhale. You might start to notice some thoughts pop in your head. Just breathe and imagine the thoughts floating by like clouds. Then, return back to focusing on your breathing.
It might feel a little silly or strange at first, but in time, you will notice you feel calmer, less emotionally reactive, and more focused.
You can practice mindfulness anytime – when your students need a calming break after lunch or to help learners focus before a big test. With that said, the real magic starts when you develop a mindfulness practice. Dedicate 10 minutes a day practicing mindfulness and stick with it as a routine for the new year.
You can even try different mindfulness techniques, like mindful breathing with visuals, mindful coloring, and mindful journal writing.
Give Extra Organization Time
The beginning of a new year is a great time to give yourself a fresh organized start. Give time to clean out desks, lockers, binders, and areas around the classroom. Beginning the season with extra organization time can ultimately help students start the year off strong.
Read an Executive Functioning Word of the Day
Learn executive functioning strategies one bite-sized piece of information at a time with a word of the day. Once you introduce and explain the word, use a few questions to guide group discussion. Some meaningful words to start with include:
- Neuroplasticity – The ability for the brain to rewire, change, and learn new skills over time. Question: What is a skill or ability you would like to learn?
- Committed – Feeling strongly dedicated to an activity, goal, or responsibility. Question: What are some activities, goals, or responsibilities that you are committed to?
- Self-Discipline – The ability to manage yourself and stay on track as you work towards your goals. Question: Why is self-discipline important?
- Self-Advocate – To speak up for yourself in order to get your needs met. Question: How can you advocate for yourself today?
If you need some ready-to-use slides for the classroom, check out this huge set of executive functioning words for the entire year.
Make a New Year’s Gratitude List
Practicing gratitude can help students feel happier, more resilient, and motivated to reach goals. Use simple sentence starters to start off the year with gratitude and appreciation:
- Someone in my life that I am grateful for is…
- I am grateful to learn about…
- Something that brings me joy is…
- A challenge I feel grateful for is…
Journal
Daily journaling is one of the best strategies for success for learners of all ages. Simply the practice of writing on a regular basis can help increase self-awareness, manage everyday emotions, and reduce stress. At the same time, a targeted self-management journal helps young adults learn critical skills for success – skills like goal-setting, taking initiative, self-control, and attention.
To get started, post one journal question per day. Have students reflect independently in their journals. Then, come back as a full group and discuss. The bonus is that journal writing is also the perfect bell ringer as students walk into the room for the day.
Discuss Reflection Questions
End of the day reflection time is an incredibly valuable way to integrate executive functioning skills into the classroom. The idea is simple – at the end of the day, have choose a reflection question to discuss. Here are some questions to try:
- What skills did you use today?
- What did you accomplish today?
- What strengths did you use today?
- What challenges did you overcome?
- What did you learn from others today?
- What goes do you have for yourself tomorrow?
If you need ideas, grab a free end of the day reflection questions posters set you can use with your students.
Teach Executive Functioning Skills Explicitly
Executive functioning skills matter throughout the entire year! Use lessons, activities, and workbooks to teach executive functioning skills explicitly to your learners in a fun and engaging way. In this executive functioning lessons and activities set, students won’t just learn about what the EF skills mean, but strategies and supports they can use right away to enrich their lives.
Write a Letter to Yourself
Writing a letter to yourself is a writing activity that also integrates many executive functioning skills like planning, metacognition, and perseverance.
Write a letter to your past self – For this exercise, have students write a letter to themselves looking backwards. They can reflect on challenges they worked through, knowledge they’ve gained, and new skills they’ve learned along the way.
Write a letter to your future self – Students can also write a letter looking to the future. For this writing activity, encourage students to think about what they want to accomplish in the year ahead. What goals do they hope to achieve? How can they work to get there?
Color Coloring Pages
Coloring pages are always a simple and fun way to integrate skills, making them a perfect addition to your new year activities.
- New Year Positive Self-Talk Coloring Pages
- Free Attention and Focus Coloring Pages
- Free Mindfulness Coloring Pages
Create a Memory Jar
The new year is a healthy time to reflect on accomplishments and positive memories from the year before. Use a memory jar to help capture and discuss those moments together. Using simple sticky notes, have students write down a memory from the year that was meaningful to them. This could be a big accomplishment they completed, a challenge they worked through, a proud moment, or anything else that matters to them. Place all the memories in a jar and read a few whenever you have some extra time.
Practice Coping Strategies
Coping skills matter. These are activities kids can use to help them manage stress, refocus their attention, and work through challenges. Use the beginning of a year new to introduce new coping strategies and practice them together. The key here is intentionally practicing many different coping skills like reading positive affirmations, practicing mindfulness, reading, coloring, and exercising. Since different strategies work well for different kids, it’s always beneficial to continue practicing many different techniques together.
Use this free coping strategies poster. Pick one a day and practice together to foster executive functioning skills like self-control, attention, and perseverance.
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