Materials
Paper
Pencil
Stickers or crayons
Directions
1. With your child, talk about a goal that she is working towards such as potty training, sleeping in her own bed, or giving up a pacifier just like Curly Bear.
2. Help her achieve the goal by giving her a visual way to track her progress. Create an “I can” statement about the goal and write it on a large piece of paper. For instance, “I can sleep in my own bed.”
3. Below the “I can” statement, draw three circles and tell your child that every time she sleeps in her own bed for the entire night, she can color in one of the circles. Encourage your child to work towards her goal with positive comments such as, "You are working so hard to reach your goal," or "Look how close you are to your goal!" Discuss any difficulties she is having, and talk to her about how it is okay to feel frustrated or anxious when working towards something new. Remind her that it takes time and practice to reach goals, and remember to celebrate all of the small accomplishments along the way.
4. Once all three circles have been filled in, celebrate the goal together by doing something special.
5. Then, create another “I can” chart with the same goal and more circles to fill in.
6. Once the goal has become routine, talk together about a new goal that you want your child to accomplish.
7. With your child, create a book of all the accomplishments she has achieved in the past year. Look through it together and talk about things that she can do now that she's a big kid. Make a new book each year!
