Ten Challenges for Children to Improve and Excel

Have you ever challenged yourself to undertake a set of tasks or engaged in a contest with yourself to see if you could do something? How did it make you feel while doing the challenge? What about afterwards when you had completed the tasks? Were you highly engaged and motivated to complete the challenge? And did you experience exhilaration once it was completed?

This is usually what happens when we step up to any challenge. It inspires us to excel, to push ourselves a little further and to take on the new actions as our own. So why not take this challenge scenario and offer it to our children? For surely we want our children to push themselves, be motivated and engaged and feel competent. Hopefully, as well, the set tasks will become a habit that stays with them long after the challenge is over.

Here are a few examples of challenges that we could set for children:

1. Read a book a day for a month.
2. Write a piece of text a day for a month.
3. Do something nice for someone each day of the month.
4. Keep their rooms tidy for 21 days.
5. Learn a new word (spelling and meaning) and use it each day for a month.
6. To control their anger and find other ways of expressing it each day for 21 days.
7. Save a dollar a day for 30 days.
8. Play outdoors each day for at least 1 hour for 21 days (for those who sit in front of the tv or computer all day!).
9. Drink a healthy green smoothie each day for 2 weeks.
10. Learn something new each day for a month.

The challenges you set really depends on what you want your children to achieve. What challenges could YOU set for YOUR children?