Fun ways to set New Year's Resolutions with your children

Setting a New Year's Resolution with your kids is a fun way to teach them about making goals for themselves and it's also a great way to spend some quality time together. You can get really creative with ways to follow through with your resolution and your kids will learn what it takes to go after and achieve a goal. Little Toader founders and parents Lori and Michael Bredemeier love to get creative with their kids and they're all about making parenting fun!

The Bredemeiers have some suggestions for fun ways to set New Year's resolutions with your kids for 2014.

1.  Create a vision board you and your kids can write down your resolutions on colorful sticky notes and place them on a vision board along with pictures cut out from magazines that represent what you want to achieve through your resolution. Get creative with decorating the vision board and place it in the kitchen or living room where everyone will see it daily. This will serve as a constant reminder to stick to your resolution.
2.  Set up a rewards system.  We all know that it's not always easy to follow through with some resolutions, like eating healthier and exercising more. If you reward your kids for sticking to their resolutions then it motivates them to follow through with it and gives them something else to look forward to. The reward can be a small treat or a trip to the park, but make it a fun incentive to keep reaching your goals.
3.  Make it a game.  Your New Year's resolution might be to spend dinner time together with your family. Make it fun for kids by having them help you cook the meal, dance while setting the table and loading the dishwasher, and see who can clean up the fastest. Anytime a tedious task or chore can be turned into a game, kids will have fun and be more willing to participate. Plus the task actually gets done!
4.  Try new things If your resolution involves spending more time together as a family, think of exciting new things you can try together instead of just sitting around at home watching a movie. Take the kids somewhere new and let them participate in an activity they never tried before or just something you rarely do together as a family. You can go bowling, play a game of softball, visit the zoo, or take up a new hobby that the family can learn together.
5.  Get active.  A common New Year's resolution is to lead a more healthy and active lifestyle which is great for the whole family. Being fit will make the entire family happy. You can make this fun for kids by playing sports games with them in your own backyard or at the park. Go hiking or bike riding as a family or even have a dance party at home! The kids don't even have to think of it as exercise because to them it's just having fun.

Lori Bredemeier is the co-founder of Little Toader with her husband Michael. www.littletoader.com  – AppeTEETHERS are a truly unique teething solution. Babies love them and parents get a kick out of watching their precious bundle of joy using them. All Little Toader products are tested and meet or exceed safety standards in US, Europe, Australia and Canada.