Journals for Children

When we were young, our parents provided us with blank school exercise books to use on holiday to record our holiday experiences. These were great fun to use, and no doubt kept us quiet in the back of the car during long road trips!

While there is nothing wrong with enabling children to record their thoughts with a blank exercise book, these days there are many guided journal options available for children. Guided journals make journaling easy for many kids. Some of the guided journals that we have successfully used for our children and grandchildren include:

• “The Big Life Journal” (for children from the age of 7-11) and “The Big Life Journal for Teens and Tweens” (for kids 11 years and older). These journals are designed to encourage a growth mindset, and come with access to a host of free tools and resources to support learning.
• “Kids’ Travel Journal”: For ages 7 – 12, this is a way for kids to record a trip on a daily basis with writing prompts, drawings, and more.
• “All About Me: My Thoughts, My Style, My Life” by Ellen Bailey. Designed for girls from ages 8 – 12, this interactive journal contains prompts, quizzes, fill-in-the-blanks, and more.
• “Dude Diary” by Mickey and Cheryl Gill. Designed for boys aged 8 – 12, this is exactly the kind of fun activity book/diary that boys like.

Journaling is a powerful educational tool that encourages self-expression through writing and drawing. Please don’t forget that a journal encourages writing stamina and fluency, not spelling or grammar. Journals aren’t meant to be revised or edited by a grown up. Finally, journals can be used to record ideas for subsequent writing activity, which will be drafted, edited, and presented to others.

• Topics:

• Living and Lifestyle
• Education / Training