• Understand “have to,” “want to,” and other motivation for our choices. 
• Practice naming feelings connected to activities. 
• Identify things they enjoy doing. 

Flexible timing/ adaptable format: Can be completed in short segments or extended across multiple sessions.

• “What do you have to do every day?” 
• “What do you love to do when you get to choose what you do?” 
• “What happens when you’re bored?” 

Game: Act or Draw It Out (Motivation Guessing) 

Opening activity:

-Have students think about an activity and why they do that activity based one of the following motivations:

• Want to
• Have to
• What Someone Else Thinks (this is nuanced, Influence of friends and family/relationships could be positive or negative)
• Nothing else to do
• For a purpose (like to get better at something or for a specific reason, to learn a new skill or meet people

-Ask individual students to act out the activity they were thinking about (at home or at school or an activity, in the community, feeding a pet, playing tag, cleaning up toys)

-Students guess the activity and the motivation or have simple labels (color code for motivations)

-Ask: “How might that make someone feel?” 

• Note: Could have primary and secondary motivations
• Does anyone else do the same activity but have another motivation? Which? How would acting that out be different? Ask them to consider riding a bike. Sometimes kids want to ride a bike because they really enjoy it. Other times they ride a bike because they have to in order to get somewhere; it is their transportation.

-Debrief

• Understand that kids often make choices under the guidance of adults. 
• Learn to express what they enjoy or don’t enjoy. 
• Practice self-advocacy with respectful words. 

Flexible timing/adaptable format: Can be completed in short segments or extended across multiple sessions.

Make a picture that shows what kind of kid you are in your free time.

• “Who picks your after-school activities or camps and how often you have them?” 
• “Do you like what you do? Would you change anything?” 

Discussion:

• “Would you rather pick your activity, or let someone else chose it for you? and Why?” 

Draw Your Ideal Afternoon/Weekend 

• What do you love to do? What would it look like if you got to choose your afternoon or weekend? A Yes Day (show the trailer from the movie Yes Day- and discuss)

Discussion and Role Play: Suppose you were not allowed to do the activity you want to do, how would you negotiate with your adult what you want to do? Have students come up with things they might say to advocate for themselves.

Take-Home Prompt: 

• “Ask an adult to name something they liked to do as a kid—and share something you’d like to do together or try!” 

• Talk about how activities affect our body and feelings. 
• Learn what “positive risk” means (trying something new in a good way). 
• Practice noticing if something helps or hurts our well-being. 

Flexible timing/ adaptable format: Can be completed in short segments or extended across multiple sessions.

• “What’s something you do that helps your body?” 
• “What’s something that helps your heart or mood?” 
• “What is a risk that’s fun and safe?” 
• “What’s something someone might do in their free time that could be harmful to them or others?”

Sort Game: 

Use cards or pictures of activities.

Sort into: 

• Healthy for me (e.g., biking, laughing, painting) 
• Maybe not so healthy (e.g., too much screen time, not moving, being mean to others) 

Story/Draw Prompt: 

Draw or tell a story about something that made you feel strong, happy, or proud. 

Have students share and discuss

Start early conversations about substance misuse prevention (as students get older add more content and discussion and refusal skills workshops).

*Contact Healthy Lamoille Valley for more support with positive youth development and youth substance misuse prevention.

• Understand what a goal is. 
• Think about what they want more of or less of. 
• Practice making a simple plan to achieve a desired goal. 

Flexible timing/ adaptable format: Can be completed in short segments or extended across multiple sessions.

• “What’s something you’d love to try?” 
• “What would you like more of in your free time?” 
• “How can you make a plan to do that?” 

Mission Challenge: 

Pick a class goal or individual goal or “mini mission” for the week (e.g., try a new game, ask a grown-up to help with a plan). 

Goal-Focused Self-Portrait: 

Draw yourself doing something you’d like to do more of in your free time (a dream or a goal) or write it down.

Create a class collage of all goal-focused statements or self-portraits titled: 

 “We Are More Than Just What We Do in School!” OR “Who We Are in Our Free Time” 

• Notice stereotypes and how they make us feel. 
• Talk about real and imagined barriers. 
• Practice cheering for each other. 

Flexible timing/ adaptable format: Can be completed in short segments or extended across multiple sessions.

• “Have you ever wanted to try something but felt nervous to do so?” 
• “What would you try if nobody judged you?” 
• “How can we help others feel included?” 

Barrier Busters:

Kids write or draw something they want to try. Then brainstorm with the group: What might stop you or get in the way? How can we help? 

Use recess or other real life examples:

• Ask someone new to play with you
• Try a new game at recess or a new after school activity
• Sit with someone new at lunch

Share Out: 

With each activity shared have other students think about if they, too, would like to try to activity mentioned.