Journaling is considered one of the most effective acts of self-care and the best for self-discovery. For children, journaling can play a great role in releasing their feelings, giving them a sense of freedom, and a great way of clarifying goals. Yet, rooting the idea of journaling in children’s minds requires some effort to make them believe in the importance of keeping a record of their dreams and thoughts, who they really are, and what they want to be.
Journaling can be a safe place to play around with creativity and writing capabilities; it also has other benefits, including:
1. Enhancing writing and communication skills
Journaling teaches children that writing is their friend and is fun. They can doodle whatever they like and include pictures or objects. Journaling can foster a strong interest in writing, and develop writing and storytelling skills that will help them in school as well as throughout their lives. It also allows children to develop their communication skills and the way they express themselves.
2. Improving reading comprehension
Journaling encourages children to take control of the reading experience by allowing them to become active, rather than passive. As they re-read their own writing, they become able to spot errors and improve on them.
3. Stimulating creativity
Journaling requires an active imagination and a special way of creation. It makes children navigate different options of the same thing, and come up with new ways of narrating the same story.
4. Expressing thoughts meaningfully
At the beginning, children would express themselves freely, writing about situations and thoughts as is. Later on, they would return to their journals and think in a critical way questioning their writings. Journaling allows children to rationalize their reaction to the experience.
5. Improving attention to details
Events and experiences come and go at a high speed; sometimes you are unable to notice them and their effects, but writing about them would allow you to pay attention to details. You will be able to draw a line between things that resulted in something meaningful. The same applies to journaling; it allows children to focus and think deeply as it forces them to slow down and pay attention to their lives as they see it in their journals.
How to get your children started with journaling?
- Choose a journal.
- Give your children space to find their own style; do not push them to write in a certain way, as there is no right or wrong way.
- Let them keep their journal private in order to be able to express themselves freely with no fear of being punished for their own thoughts and dreams.
- Have a designated space in your house where your kids can create.
Bringing it all together, journaling provides children with a space to marvel at the wonders of the world, project into the future, and process the events of the past. Many children feel better when they express their ideas and thoughts in a safe non-judgmental place. Thus, a private journal can help them process their feelings and become better in expressing themselves.
References
everythingmom.com
mamasmiles.com
scholastic.com
Cover photo source.