Pack Your Suitcase: A Joyful New Year’s Resolutions Writing Activity

Resolutions are boring. Yes, I know but New Year means new hopes… It is a good time to start over and continue, especially in such challenging times. This year has been very tough. Pandemic, being away from our loved ones, not being able to touch, not being able to hug… In fact, all these dystopic things made us realize how actually precious what we have in hand was/is. The little things such as going for a walk with a friend, sitting and chatting at a cafe, crying on a shoulder, hugging whenever you feel to hug…

We, teachers moved to a brand-new way of teaching overnight. The techie ones, non-techie ones, we were on the same train, trying to do our best to help students. That’s why I wanted to add a positive writing activity fort his time of the year. I’ve used many activities with a suitcase, backpack, which were mainly to reflect on the previous year, but this will be for the hopes and the expectations for the moments we have. Sounds a cliche but I couldn’t come up with another one. So are you ready for your resolutions?

New Year’s Resolutions: What Will I Put in My Suitcase?

We are going on a new journey in 2021. That’s why you have to pack your suitcase, but we will not put clothes in this suitcase. We will put our expectations, goals, hopes, books we want to read, movies we want to watch, bands we want to watch on stage.  After packing the suitcase, write a diary entry or a blog post or if you want, shoot a vlog.

This activity works well precisely because it avoids the usual “I will go to the gym more” type of resolution. By framing hopes and goals as items being packed for a journey, students think more concretely and personally about what matters to them, whether that is a book they want to read, a band they want to see live, or a place they want to visit.

You can extend this activity by asking students to draw or sketch their suitcase and label each item, which works particularly well with younger or more visual learners. Pairing students up to compare suitcases afterwards can also lead to some lovely speaking practice, as they explain their choices to each other.

If you enjoy reflective writing activities like this one, you might also like A Letter to the Future and Looking Back Before Looking Forward.

For more New Year’s activity ideas, British Council’s New Year lesson resources are worth a look.

May 2021 be a good year… A good year in which we will improve, have and save good stories and be together with our loved ones 🙂