A family vision board is a tool that can be a fun way to represent your family culture and goals. Taking the time to consider what is important to you as a family and what goals you want to accomplish, is a great way to bond together.
A vision board can help your family to visualize what kind of experiences you want to live as a family, and actually help you to achieve your goals as you focus on the board.
It is a great tool to help your family co-create a happy and fulfilling life together.
It can also give each member of the family a feeling of purpose while doing everyday tasks. For example, it can be difficult for kids to understand that your family is saving money for a dream vacation when they’re eating leftovers or buying second hand clothing. This is because kids don’t always see the long-term payoff of short-term sacrifices. But when you have a family vision board, you can show your kids pictures of your dream vacation and encourage them to think about how much fun they’re going to have in a few months.
Ready to create your own family vision board? Here’s how to get started now.
1) Decide on the format
Consider what format would work best for your family.
You can create your vision board as a poster, a scrapbook or as a digital slideshow or printable document.
If you’ll be creating a poster or scrapbook, you’ll want to gather plenty of supplies like scissors, tape, stickers, old magazines, different coloured pens/markers, and even paint.
For a digital vision board, you can create your board inside a program like CANVA, which is my favourite option; you can create a free account online, and find some free templates to start off your project.
Other digital programs you can use include Photoshop, PowerPoint or Keynote. If you’re not skilled with graphic design, don’t worry. There are plenty of websites that allow you to create a vision board online.
2) Schedule it
You’ll want plan time to work on your vision board. Even a small vision board can take several hours to complete. If you don’t have a lot of time for family activities, you can break up the creation phase into several small meetings.
You can also ask your family members to gather pictures ahead of time (from magazines, online, etc.) that represent their ideas/goals, to be ready for creating the board.
It’s important that you make these meetings fun for your family. Consider having special drinks or snacks as you work on your board and playing some fun and inspiring music.
Encourage each family member to dream big and ask them to think about their passions, goals and aspirations ahead of time, so that they come ready with a few ideas to discuss.
3) Gather your family
It’s important that every member of your family contributes to the vision board. When your kids feel like they’re part of the process, they’re more likely to take ownership and work toward your family’s goals.
Make sure to listen openly to your children’s ideas and incorporate them into the board. Everyone should be represented on the board, both individually and as part of the family.
4) Consider your family’s culture and goals
Now comes the fun part. Start talking with your family about your core values, and the different aspects of your family that make up your unique family culture. What aspects would you like to have, or nourish, as part of your family culture?
Your family culture can include: your family’s values and traditions, country and history, hobbies and passions, rituals, favourite stories, books, language(s), food, music, heroes, beliefs, etc. Putting these things down as a visual representation can help encourage a sense of family pride and belonging.
Once you have a good visual representation of your family culture, consider your aspirations and future goals. Such as the people you’d like to meet, places you’d like to visit, and adventures you’d like to have. Where do you want to be as a family in five years?
If you’re overwhelmed with ideas, and can’t fit them all onto one page, it’s OK to divide your vision board into sections. You could create sections for academic goals, travel goals, career goals, etc.
5) Stay positive
Creativity requires positive energy. If a family member says something negative, have them write that thought down then crumple the sheet and toss it into the trash. Explain that letting go of negativity is essential to dreaming big.
A family vision board can be a lot of fun to create. Let every family member contribute to it in some way. Set goals together as a family, that you can all work toward achieving.
This will help you bond as a family and allow you to support each other’s goals.