Anatomy for a New Year: Goal-Setting Activity

This engaging, anatomy themed goal-setting activity is perfect for back-to-school or New Year motivation! Students use a creative "human body" outline as a metaphor for setting personal and academic goals, while exploring how each body part connects to their aspirations.

Help your students start the year off right with Anatomy for a New Year, a creative goal-setting activity designed to inspire, motivate, and connect students to their future!

Using a human body template, students identify and map their goals for the year:

• Heart: What they’re passionate about in health science or nursing.
• Brain: Knowledge they want to gain or subjects they’re excited to explore.
• Hands: Skills they want to practice or master.
• Feet: Steps they’ll take to achieve their goals.
• Eyes: Their vision for the future.
• Lungs: How they’ll stay balanced and energized throughout the year.

What’s Included:

• A printable human body template for students to label and decorate.
• A teacher guide/lesson plan with instructions and examples to get started.
• A reflection worksheet to revisit and assess progress at the end of the year.

Why You'll Love It:

• Promotes self-reflection, planning, and motivation in a fun, interactive way.
• Encourages critical thinking about health-related goals and habits.
• Perfect for high school health science, anatomy, or nursing pathways.
• Easy to adapt for personal and academic goals or skills they want to master.

How to Use:

• Kick off the New Year or semester by introducing the activity.
• Have students brainstorm their goals using the guided prompts.
• Allow them to decorate their templates, making them personal and inspiring.
• Display completed templates in your classroom to serve as ongoing motivation.

Grade Level: High school (grades 9-12)

Bonus:

At the end of the year, revisit the templates as a reflection activity to assess progress and celebrate accomplishments.

More fun activities:

Cardiovascular System HS Anatomy / Health Science / Biology No Prior Learning!

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