Skill Goal Ladder

Your child picks a skill they want to get better at, breaks it into small steps like rungs on a ladder, and marks their own progress each week.

How to do it

1. Ask your child to name one skill they would like to get better at, such as juggling, free throws, or a piece of music.
2. Help them describe what the top of the ladder looks like in a way they could actually check.
3. Together, draw a ladder and write a small, doable rung between where they are now and the top.
4. Each practice session, your child works on the current rung and colours it in when they can do it comfortably.
5. Once a week, look at the ladder together and let them add or adjust the next rung based on how it is going.

What you need

• Paper
• Pencils
• Skill gear

Make it yours

Younger, 6 to 8 years: Use a three-rung ladder and check progress every couple of days rather than weekly. Older, 10 to 12 years: Let them run the ladder mostly on their own and add a note on each rung about what helped. Siblings: Each child keeps their own ladder for their own skill; avoid comparing ladders between them