Write On! Help Your Child Journal to Preserve Memories

Preserve your child’s thoughts and experiences through journaling!

Writing or drawing about their experiences, feelings or favorite things to do is a great way to inspire a love for writing with your child. Simply staple some paper together to create a journal, or pick up a notebook for your child to record their memories!

Before your child engages in the journaling process:

Create a fun and engaging atmosphere. Some ideas to help create an inviting atmosphere include providing the materials that will help to inspire creativity. Some examples include crayons, markers, colored pencils, paper & magazines. In addition, you may want to play some relaxing music in the background while your child is journaling! To make it a family affair, parents can join in on the fun with your own journal!

During the journaling experience:

Keep in mind that the focus for this activity should not be on grammar or spelling. The purpose is to inspire an interest in creative writing. However, it is a great opportunity to practice your child's list of sight or vocabularty words that they might be working on! After your child writes a journal entry, have them refer to that list to ensure those words are spelled correctly.

If your child is an emergent writer, encourage them to draw a picture.  Ask your child to tell you about their picture. Then, if they are able, ask them to write a few words or a simple sentence to describe the picture that they drew. 

If your child is stuck and can’t think of something to write, please consider using a writing prompt. I have included some examples below:

1. Do you have a pet? What do you like to do with them? If not, what pet would you love to have?
2. If you could be any animal, what would you choose?
3. Your cat gets stuck on the roof. How do you get him down?
4. How do you think it would feel to fly like a bird?
5. Write a story about a trip you would like to take with your family.
6. You and your friends build a treehouse. But, anyone who enters needs to follow some rules. What are they?
7. Write about an astronaut who flies to space and discovers a new planet.
8. You find a treasure chest buried in your backyard. What’s inside?
9. You are stuck inside your school overnight. What would you do?

After the experience:

Add your child’s journal to their collection of books at home. It will be fun for your child to pull it off the bookshelf throughout the years and reflect on their thoughts and feelings at the time it was composed!