Resources & Activities for Early Career Exploration

For Adults

Talking with young children about their future can be a rewarding activity to do – they often have some pretty interesting ideas about what they want to be when they grow up or what tasks are involved with certain careers.

The following activities are fun to do with kids and can encourage some of these fun conversations while boosting their aspirations.

Read books about different careers

• What Shoes Will You Wear? By Julia Cook
• Career Day by Anne Rockwell
• My Magical Choices by Becky Cummings
• When I Grow Up by Al Yankovic

Career Aspiration Activities:

• What do they think they want to do each day?
• What out-of-school activities do they like to do regularly and what work might they like doing? Draw a picture of something you are good at.
• Talk in positive ways about what you enjoy doing at your job. I enjoy helping others. I enjoy working with my hands. I enjoy being out in the wood.
• Ask students: Have you ever seen a college campus? What did it look like?
• Can you think of a job that starts with the letter of your first name? Want a challenge? Name one for each letter of the alphabet.
• Next time you are out doing errands, talk about the different jobs in the community. This is an auto mechanic, they fix cars.
• Blog Post: 5 Ways to Encourage Your Child to Think About Their Future
• Watch a video: https://www.knowitall.org/series/kids-work

Financial Literacy Activities

• Count pennies with a child. Coin sorting is a great activity for preschoolers. Teach children about money by helping sort colors, sizes, and values.
• Be a financial role model. Your child will learn about saving and spending from you. Talk about the things you’re saving up for. Show your child how the money you’re saving for college is adding up.
• Take it to the bank. Most banks will let a child have their own account if a parent signs them up. Help your child save and show how to make a deposit and check the balance.
• Kids’ Money is an interactive resource for parents, teachers, and kids designed to help children develop successful money management habits and become financially responsible adults.
• Model curiosity about the work of others. Pose questions that you playfully explore and wonder about together. For example: What does a chef do each day? Do you think you would like to be a chef?
• Provide opportunities for children to play with toys that represent occupations (ex: stethoscope, chef’s hat) and explain how they relate to careers. See examples of dramatic play centers here.
• The Finance Authority of Maine has some great resources to help families prepare to pay for college.
• Blog Post: 5 Steps to Check Your Child’s Alfond Grant Value
• Create a MyPlan on MyAlfondGrant.org