The Simplest Guide: How to create a family vision board (6 Benefits too!)

I never really got vision boards when I was much younger. It only took me deciding to bite the bullet and creating a virtual vision board many years ago for me to finally understand what all the fuss was about. Now I make them every year. I make not only personal vision boards but I also create a family vision board each year.

In this article, we will look at family vision boards and how they can change your life and that of your family as a whole. We will go through the basic steps on how to create a family vision board. To put it simply, by creating a family vision board, you can set your family up for overall success yearly.

If you are new to the process, you are probably wondering what a vision board is.

What is vision boarding and how does it work?

A vision board is a collage or an arrangement of different photos or images that represent goals that you aim to achieve within a specific period of time. 

The way it works is that by going through the process of creating a vision board, referring back to it continuously and then ticking off various goals as you achieve them, you gain more courage and motivation to achieve more goals. It is a sort of visual ‘write it down, make it happen’.

Are vision boards still a thing?

Yes, vision boards are still ‘a thing’. I believe that as long as people need motivation in life and reminders of their past successes, vision boards will continue to be a thing. I do not see vision boards ever dying out. Perhaps the way they are created or the format in which they come might change a little in the future with changing technology though.

Benefits of creating family vision boards

• Provides daily inspiration for the whole family
• It can become an enjoyable family tradition to make vision boards annually
• It teaches everyone in the family that it is important to have goals to strive for
• Each person benefits from the satisfaction of achieving the goals and dreams on the board
• Creating the vision board together can make for quality family time
• It fosters deeper conversations and communication within the family

READ: Family traditions you can start today

What should your vision board include? 

To have a positive and most importantly, effective experience using a vision board, it should include images of people, places and things. You might also choose to include things you are grateful for. The feelings of gratitude you get when seeing past achievements and important people you have in your life will motivate all of you to aim higher and achieve more. 

How often should you look at your vision board?

You should be checking your vision board as often as you feel you need motivation. This may change at different times throughout the year. For example, at particularly rough times of the year when you are not sure you will be able to hit one target or the other, looking at your vision board several times daily might be the one thing that keeps you going and helps to get you to the finish line. 

What are the best vision board apps or programs?

You can go the traditional route to creating a vision board and make it on an actual board with cut-out images. This is the best way to go if all of your family live in one home and prefer to be able to physically see the board whenever they want to. 

However, thanks to modern technology, your family can also choose to build your vision board online using some convenient apps or computer programs. This is beneficial if your family is living in different parts of the country or different parts of the world. This is the case for many families in modern times. Using a virtual or online vision board allows all of you to contribute to it from wherever you are and also to have a copy of it whenever you need it. 

If you have chosen to create your family vision board digitally or virtually, you will need to find a good program or application that makes it easy for you to do this. 

I have used, and would personally recommend both Canva and Microsoft Powerpoint to create your family vision board. Canva has a free version that provides excellent image options if you would rather not use the paid version. 

There are also some apps specifically made to build vision boards. A quick Google search should bring them up for you but I have not tried any of them yet. If you have, let me know how you found them in the comments below. 

You can either view your finished product digitally as and when you need to, or you can print it out.

Can you make a family vision board without pictures?

The point of creating a family vision board is so that you have visual representations of your dreams and goals as a family. Without pictures, you cannot have a vision board. You would not have those visual representations. 

A family vision board should allow for input from all members of the family and should also make the commonalities among all family members very obvious. 

Here are some vision board ideas for family to help you come to a conclusion on what your goals are as a family.

Vision board ideas for family

Family vision board questions

It is helpful to answer the following questions as a family:

1. Where do we see ourselves in 5 years time?
2. What brings us the most amount of joy?
3. What kinds of hobbies would we each like to take up?
4. What social skills do you most want to build on?
5. What is most important to us?
6. What does the perfect day look like?
7. How can we become better people?

All those questions help you to come to a conclusion as to what you aim to achieve as a family and within which period of time.

It might also be helpful to classify your goals into:

• Short term
• Medium term
• Long term
• Wild/crazy but still attainable
• Wishes – these are ideas that you view as mere thoughts and that other people might regard as impossible

Step by step guide to creating a family vision board that really works

Requirements for making a digital or virtual family vision board 

• Time – set aside a time when all of you can do this together. The benefit of a digital vision board is that you do not have to all be in the same place at the same time if you cannot. However you do have to each set aside the time to contribute to the board. 
• The ideal app or program to put the board together

Supplies for making a physical or offline family vision board 

• A board made from any solid material or a long or large and thick stretch of fabric
• Large piece of paper to place over your board before adding pictures (optional) 
• Magazines 
• Glue stick, push pins or any adhesive that works well with your chosen board material
• Pens and markers (optional)
• A pair of scissors 
• A pair of child safe scissors (if there are little kids in the family)

The process

• Cut out from a magazine or select images online of people, places and things that you aspire to become like, visit or acquire 
• For a physical vision board, layout your board or fabric flat out on the floor or pin to a wall or on an easel if easier for you
• Arrange your chosen images on it. They do not have to be arranged in any specific order unless you want them to be
• You do not have to write anything under the photos unless you find that it may be necessary to remind yourself of what some of the images are there for. If you need to write, keep the notes very short as the point here is to have imagery rather than words

Where is the best place to put your vision board?

You have to put your family vision board somewhere that you can all see it at various points throughout the day. It has to be in a room that you all tend to visit at least a few times a week. 

For a virtual vision board, it should be on the family computer and/or on each family member’s computer. Ideal places for it would be as the desktop background or as the screensaver. 

Are you about to make a family vision board? What prompted you to do it?

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