A lesson that teaches children to consider not only decisions for the day but for the future as well.
Group Meeting:
Gather your group to the meeting area and have them take a seat.
Introduce the lesson by asking your group how many times they’ve been asked what they want to be when they grow up. Is this a question they like to be asked? Why do they think adults ask this question so much?
Explain that many times adults do this to get kids to begin thinking about the future; setting goals and having dreams is a really good way to be successful in the long run. Thinking ahead is smart, but how do we get to our goals and dreams?
Tell the children to consider the idea that the decisions we make today, even if they seem small, can make a big difference in our future.
For example, eating junk food once in a while is not necessarily bad, but if we make that decision every single day, we may be setting ourselves up to be unhealthy in the future.
Reference back to the lesson on borrowing and bring up if we were to borrow a bunch of things without thinking much about it in a single day, we may find ourselves in trouble later when we have to pay it all back.
However, this can be used in a good way too! Talk about these examples as well:
Say someone wants to run track when they’re in highschool, if they make the decision to practice running and sprinting a little bit every day, they are much more likely to make the team than if they never practiced at all.
If someone wants to go to college one day, then making the decision everyday to try their best in school will go a long way in helping them get to their goal.
Using a whiteboard or butcher paper, have the children list out examples of what are some positive choices that can lead to good outcomes. Write out the good choice, then draw an arrow to the positive outcome.
Transition to the activity by telling the kids that today not only will they be thinking about what they want to be when they grow up or a dream for the future, but what some steps or choices they can make to reach that goal.
Summary of Tasks/Activity:
Today Helps Tomorrow
Pass out one ‘today helps tomorrow’ worksheet per child.
Set out pencils and crayons/colored pencils for kids to use.
Explain to the group to think about and either write or draw out one positive thing they can do every day to lead to a goal or dream for the future.
Have some examples ready to give out: such as exercising every day to become an excellent athlete, or practicing an instrument to become a better musician.
Have the children share their ideas with one another, and feel free to share with the whole group if they’d wish.
