Year 1 PSHE – Dreams and Goals

This week in our Jigsaw PSHE lesson, Year 1 explored the idea of dreams and goals and what it means to work towards something we want to achieve. To bring this learning to life, the children were given a simple but exciting challenge: to create a dog out of playdough without any adult instructions or modelling.

The purpose of this activity was to help children recognise that they already have skills, knowledge, and creativity they can draw upon when working towards a goal. It also encouraged them to think about the steps they take, the choices they make, and how they respond when things feel tricky.

During our partner and class discussions, the children shared the different processes they used to create their dogs.

• Some began with the head and worked down to the tail
• Others started with the body and added details like floppy ears at the end

We talked about whether there was a “right” way to make the dog, and the children quickly realised that there wasn’t. This led to a powerful conversation about how everyone works differently and that having a different approach doesn’t make one person’s work better or worse than someone else’s.

We also explored the idea that challenges are a natural part of learning. The children reflected on moments when their playdough models didn’t go to plan and how these moments helped them think, adapt, and try again. This helped us understand that overcoming challenges helps us grow and brings us closer to achieving our dreams and goals.

By the end of the lesson, the children had not only created their own unique playdough dogs but also developed a deeper understanding of how we all learn in different ways—and that our individual journeys are something to be proud of.