Goal setting is a crucial skill that helps students build a strong foundation for success in both academic and personal endeavors. Returning to school can be a fresh start for your classroom and students, so it’s the perfect time to take advantage of this excitement and energy with engaging goal setting activities. Learning to set goals teaches students how to prioritize their tasks and stay focused on what matters most. By teaching these lessons on setting and achieving goals, reflection, growth mindset, and healthy technology habits, you and your students will have the perfect start to the new year.

How to create interactive goal setting activities for students

Interactive goal setting activities are an effective way to engage students while teaching them essential life skills. With Nearpod, you can easily create or find interactive lessons for free. Browse the Goal Setting lesson folder to explore resources filtered by grade level, subject, or standards. Nearpod also lets you create your own lesson with interactive activities to make goal setting dynamic and engaging. Use tools like Time to Climb for gamification, Drag & Drop exercises, Draw It activities, Matching Pairs games, and Collaborate Board for discussions to make goal setting a fun and impactful experience.

By combining goal-setting activities with interactive tools, you can foster a growth mindset in your classroom while helping students reflect on their aspirations. As they engage with these lessons, students will build confidence, resilience, and a clear understanding of how to work toward achieving their goals and New Year resolutions in meaningful ways.

New to Nearpod? Make sure you’re signed up to access these lessons and activities!

Teachers can sign up for free below to access and create interactive lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod.

Professional development to support your teaching goals

Goal setting isn’t just for students—it’s vital for educators, too. Camp Engage is a FREE virtual PD event designed for educators like you! With 40+ expert-led sessions tailored to all experience levels, you’ll gain practical strategies to achieve your instructional goals and create meaningful learning experiences for your students.

Each session is crafted for immediate classroom impact, so you can start implementing new ideas as soon as Camp Engage wraps up.

Register below to join us February 7–9, 2025!

5 Engaging goal setting activities for any classroom

1. Establish resolutions and reflections

January is the perfect time of year for students to reflect on the first half of the school year and set specific goals for the new year. These activities and lessons are perfect for teaching your students about setting SMART goals. Do this as a class activity or in Student-Paced mode for independent reflection.

Use these goals setting and SMART goals activities for resolutions and reflections:

• Reflections and Resolutions (Activity: Grades K-12): In this SEL activity, students practice self-management by reflecting on past experiences to create SMART resolutions for the new school year. This lesson can be used to infuse social and emotional learning into classroom schedules easily. There are 3 versions of this activity for the following set of grade levels: Grades K-2, 3-5, and 6-12.

• Goal Setting (Activity: Grades 3-8): In this life skills activity, students will review their understanding of goal setting using Nearpod’s interactive quiz game, Time to Climb. There are 2 versions of this activity for the following set of grade levels: Grades 3-5 and 6-8.

• SMART Goals (Video: Grades 3-6): In this fun and educational video from Lynn Hefele, students learn how to create SMART goals using specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely language.

• SEL: Growth Mindset (Activity: Grades 6-8): In this life skills activity, students will review their understanding of growth mindset using Nearpod’s interactive quiz game, Time to Climb.

• New Year’s Resolutions for Students (Video: Grades 9-12, Higher Ed): In this video from Socratica, students learn how to make achievable new year’s resolutions and complete them.

2. Practice a growth mindset

There is no successful goal setting process without a growth mindset. Encourage students to adopt a growth mindset for the new school year to stay motivated in accomplishing their personal and academic goals. You can also use these activities during different times of the year when they need a little extra courage. Use these effective goal setting activities for the new year, test prep season, or before they go on holiday or summer break to reinforce these teachings.

Motivate students with these growth mindset lessons and activities:

• Growth Mindset (Lesson: Grade 3-8): In this Life Skills lesson, students will learn about the opportunity to learn from failure. Your students will be able to acknowledge failure as a positive process and learning opportunity.

• Growth Mindset (Video: Grades 4-12): In this video, students learn about growth mindset. A host explains how a growth mindset reframes mistakes as a sign of potential. Students consider how this can impact their own lives.

• SEL: Growth Mindset (Activity: Grades 6-8): In this 6-8 life skills activity, students will review their understanding of growth mindset using Nearpod’s interactive quiz game, Time to Climb.

• Survey: Growth Mindset (Activity: Grades 6-12): Want to learn more about your students? Use this survey to get to know your students and learn more about how they feel about your subject area!

3. Inspire students with social and emotional habits

Are your students not sure what type of goals they want to set for themselves? Provide realistic goals they can accomplish in the new year. Whether it’s reading more, exercising frequently, managing their time better, or cultivating healthy social and emotional habits, you can provide your students with the resources they need to kick off a new goal they’re passionate about.

Before kicking off goal setting activities, share some of these lessons with your students to inspire them:

• Mantras (Video: Grades 3-8): Want to feel calmer or more confident? In this one-minute video, students will learn about mantras. A host will explain how mantras can help you focus and manage stress, and students will consider how they can use mantras in their own lives.

• Let’s Breathe Out (Lesson: Grades 6-8): In this Social Emotional Learning lesson, middle school students will learn about the concept of mindfulness and how to cultivate it within themselves.

• Exercise and Fitness (Lesson: Grades 6-8): In this CCP Life Skills lesson, students will learn how to maintain an active and healthy lifestyle. They will examine how to calculate BMI, calorie intake, and the physical benefits of exercise.

• Daily Routines and Time Management (Lesson: Grades 6-12): Students learn to organize their daily schedules and manage their time to achieve their goals, specifically long term and short term goals.

• How to Love Reading (Video: Grades 9-12, Higher Ed): In this interactive video from Socratica, high school students learn about how to love reading.

4. Encourage healthy technology and media habits

Now more than ever, it’s important to empower students to think critically and participate responsibly in the digital world through digital citizenship skills. Use the beginning of the year to reinforce digital literacy skills and digital wellness habits students can use daily. These habits can also serve as goal setting ideas they can use in the new year. For example, they can set a goal not to check social media in the first 15 minutes they wake up or to shut off their phones one hour before they go to sleep.

Use these lessons to encourage healthy digital citizenship habits in the new year:

• Digital Citizenship & Responsibility (Activity: Grades 6-8): In this 6-8 activity, students will review what it means to be a good digital citizen and how to take responsibility on social media with Nearpod’s interactive quiz game, Time to Climb.

• Social Media Addiction (Video: Grades 6-12): Is social media designed to be addicting? In this one-minute video, students learn about social media addiction. A host explains how social media is designed to be addicting, and students consider whether social media should be regulated.

• Social Media Behaviors and Cyber Bullying (Lesson: Grades 6-12): Students learn the importance of responsible use of online platforms and how to spot and stop cyberbullying.

5. Celebrate with themed slide templates for your lessons!

This January, use one of our two seasonal templates for Google Slides! With a Nearpod Gold, Platinum, or School account, you can access our Google-Slides Add On to embed interactive Nearpod slides and activities within Google Slides. Perfect for back to school activities for students’ goals or creating lessons!

Learn more about our Google Slides integration here. However, please note these slide templates can still be accessed for free.

Uploading PowerPoint or Google Slides into Nearpod to create your lessons? Download the slide templates as a .ppt, make a copy in Google Slides, and upload your festive lesson to Nearpod.

Click the links below to download your favorite New Year template! If you’re interested in slides for back to school, explore all of our slide templates here.

Start using these interactive activities and lessons

At the beginning of the year, goal setting for students is a powerful activity that helps establish a positive classroom culture. Encouraging students to set personal goals allows them to take ownership of their learning and development. Whether they are striving to achieve a long-term goal or completing smaller, time-bound objectives, goal setting equips students with the tools they need to work toward achieving their aspirations. To emphasize the importance of goal setting for students in your classroom, reinforce these skills year-round.

If you’re new to Nearpod, ensure you’re signed up for a free account. You can access all of the lessons, activities, and videos in this blog post by clicking below to sign up!

Teachers can sign up for free below to access and create interactive lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod.