5 Steps to Visualize Goals to Help Children Succeed
Do you ever try different techniques to help children improve their motor skills or reach their goals? Visualization is a common practice among athletes to improve their performance and take their skills to the next level. You can teach children how to visualize goals in order to help them succeed.
Research among adults indicates that mentally rehearsing a sport can help to improve performance, trigger responses from the autonomic nervous system and help in the construction of schema.
How to Visual Goals
Here are 5 steps to carry out for visualization techniques
- Determine what the overall goal is that the child would like to reach.
- Instruct the child to relax and visualize him/herself achieving the goal.
- Right before the child is going to try the skill again ask the child to visualize him/herself performing the skill perfectly.
- Throughout the attempt at trying/practicing the skill have the child imagine success.
- After the skill, have the child visualize the skill again. Ask the child was there anything he/she could do different the next time to improve the skill.
Benefits of Self Reflection for Children
These steps encourage children to also self reflect on their skills and abilities. Self-reflection helps children (and adults!) to analyze growth. By keeping a record of your ideas, reasons, actions, techniques, and assessments children can play an important role in planning their future and reaching their goals.
My Memory Book digital download encourages self reflection for students on accomplishments, improvements, challenges, goals and more. Students can practice handwriting and drawing skills while creating a memory keepsake book. This download includes the materials to create one 11 page memory book (available in three different font styles).
Reference: Saint Clair, Erica. Visualization: The Simple Tool for Even Greater Athletic Success. Retrieved from the web on 2/10/14 at http://breakingmuscle.com/sports-psychology/visualization-the-simple-tool-for-even-greater-athletic-success.
Imagination Action Journeys are 10 fun filled stories that encourage literacy, physical activity, imagination and creativity. Children will enjoy reading and acting out the stories. These can be completed indoors or outdoors with one child or a group of children. What a great way to promote literacy and physical activity!
