I’m sure most of you have heard that it takes 30 days to create a new habit. You can use this idea to help your family develop new creative habits. Getting into the 30 day challenge is a great way of giving kids the tools to create their own good habits, which will aid them throughout their entire lives.

Brainstorm a list as a family of the creative goals you would like to accomplish. Perhaps it is having a family dinner every night, picking a new hobby and spending 20 minutes on it a day, playing a family game together every night after supper instead of watching TV, or whatever creative goals your family has.

1. Allow your kids to pick one for the whole family. If they pick it, they are much more likely to get behind it. Next make a challenge out of it. See if you can, as a family, accomplish your challenge every day for the next 30 days.
2. Prepare for your challenge, do any research you need to do, make sure you have any special equipment on hand. Involve your children in this process. Create a plan that will allow you to accomplish your challenge every day. The planning is key. The better the plan the easier the success. (A good lesson for kids to learn)
3. Create a visual way to mark your successes, and get the kids involved! Celebrate every chance you get and acknowledge efforts made. Hopefully at the end of the 30 days your “challenge” will become apart of daily life.

Once you have incorporated one new habit into your life, why not try another? You can do another family 30 day challenge or help your child plan and embark on a personal 30 day challenge. Perhaps your child wants to read for 20 minutes every day, or write one new poem a day, become more active, or even just form the habit of spending dedicated time on creativity.

Turning something that can be a chore, such as learning new habits, into a fun challenge is a great creative exercise for everyone!

The power of the 30 day challenge is how it compounds. You are only working on one habit at a time, but if you choose a new habit each month, you will have made 12 new creative habits a part of your daily life within a year. That is some pretty powerful stuff!

How about you, are you up for a 30 day creative challenge? What new habits are your family going to work on? How are you going to take the idea of the 30 day challenge and make it yours? Please share!