Student Activity: The‌ ‌Game‌ ‌of‌ ‌Life‌

Life can have many ups and downs. In order to stay motivated, it helps to set some long-term goals, and then figure out the short-term goals that will help you get there. You’ll have to stay motivated and work through obstacles along the way.

DIRECTIONS 

Design a board game to illustrate one of your life dreams.

1. First, add a big life goal in the FINISH spot.
2. Add a short-term goal to each space outlined in orange. Your short-term goals should be steps that help you reach your long-term goal. 
3. Add obstacles to the other squares with instructions like “Go back one square” or “Return to START.” You can leave some spaces blank or color them in.
4. Find player pieces (or use pennies) and dice from another game, and play your game with a friend. Can you reach your goal?

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Darri Stephens is a former member of Teach for America and a seasoned educator, with more than 10 years’ experience in Los Angeles and New York City public schools. She’s a published author, who has also worked for education-focused media companies including Nickelodeon, IMAX, EdSurge, and Discovery Education. With master’s degrees in education from both Harvard and Stanford, she’s passionate about creative curriculum development that pushes boundaries, especially considering the influx of today’s technologies. Her most recent positions as Senior Director of Content at Common Sense and Director of Education at Wonder Workshop underscore her love of instructional design, writing, and the ever-changing edtech world – so much so that she has now founded her own content consulting agency, Darrow Ink.