6 Career Exploration Activities to Encourage Your Elementary Students

Let’s talk about exposing our elementary-aged students to future career options and giving them career exploration opportunities at an early age.

Careers can seem like they are far from the thoughts of our younger students, but it’s more important to get students thinking about future career options than one may think.

Expanding students’ understanding of future career options can help them to narrow down what they like, what they are best at, and which skills they may want to take the time to hone.

Let’s face it; career exploration and career education often get pushed to the back burner for our younger students. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

Keep reading for six easy ways to sneak career exploration activities into your school day.

Career of the Month Countdown or Hallway Displays

One way to incorporate career education into your school day is to create a “Career of the Month” countdown and display it in the hallway.

Each month, feature a new career that you would like to expose your students to, including the job description, necessary skills, and education needed, counting down to the top career of the year.

By creating this display or countdown, students will have the opportunity to learn about a new and relevant career every month.

School News Introductions

If your school has a daily news station, you can also use this time to introduce new careers to your students. Have a guest speaker come in and talk about their job or highlight a different career in a weekly segment.

This will keep career education at the forefront of your students’ minds and provide a fun and exciting way to learn about new careers.

Career Education Books & Lessons

Using books and lessons to teach about career exploration is an excellent way to get your students thinking about future career options. Incorporate career-themed books into your reading curriculum or use specific lessons to help students learn about different professions.

My favorite career-themed books aimed towards elementary-aged students are What Shoes Will You Wear, When I Grow Up, and 100 Things to be When You Grow Up. You can find more books like these linked in my Amazon Storefront.

You can also use websites like Career Kids or BLS.gov to find age-appropriate career resources.

Career Sort Games & Career Interest Surveys

Another fun way to get students thinking about career options is to create a career-sort game. Students can work individually or in small groups to sort out different career options based on skills and interests.

You can use index cards or download these cards with career options and have students sort them into categories based on how interested they may be in a career.

This game helps students learn more about different careers while helping them explore their abilities and identify skills they may be good at.

Poster Contests

Hosting a poster contest is a creative way to get students thinking about career options. Ask students to create posters that feature a career they are interested in or have learned about. Display the posters throughout the school and hold a contest to select the best posters.

This is a fun way to get students excited about career exploration and to showcase their creativity.

Career Fairs

Organizing a career fair at your school is another great way to expose students to different career options. Invite professionals from various fields to come and speak to students about their jobs, the skills required, and the education needed.

Students can ask questions and learn about different career paths. You can also provide resources like brochures and pamphlets that students can take home to learn more about different careers.

If a full-blown career fair isn’t feasible, scheduling Q&A sessions through Zoom with various guest speakers can be just as effective.

Career Exploration and Education in Elementary School

Incorporating career education into your school day doesn’t have to be complicated or time-consuming. By using these six easy ways, you can help expose your students to different career options and encourage them to dream big about their future. Remember, it’s never too early to start planning for the future!

What are your favorite career exploration activities? Let me know!

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