We all grew up watching The Princess Diaries, Bridget Jones and Harriet the Spy. Well, most of us.
Younger parents may not remember these oldies but to those who do, you may be avid journal-keepers yourself now as full-grown adults. Endlessly jotting down your thoughts, ideas, frustrations and experiences on the pages of a notebook.
All of us may keep a diary for various reasons, and some may have even started out in their journaling journey pretty young.
So, it’s definitely a good hobby to cultivate in your little one.
While younger kids may not have the motor dexterity to write as gracefully and legibly as their older counterparts, encourage them to journal anyway. It may open doors to improving a bunch of useful skills.
But if you don’t journal or are new to the practice, you may be wondering, what are the benefits of journaling anyway?
Well, here are some facts that you need to know.
Benefits of Journaling for Children
We all know why adults journal.
If it’s not for professional reasons, then it’s for creative, medical, spiritual or self-improvement reasons.
But a majority of grown-ups use journals as a way of organising their thoughts, processing their stressors and track their progress in various areas of their lives like fitness, health, diet and even sleep.
Kids may journal for entirely personal reasons but most probably when they’re sad, frustrated or confused.
It definitely allows your child to express, process and understand their own thoughts and emotions in a calm, healthy way. Especially when they don’t feel like talking to a parent or friend.
Journaling also has a tonne of other benefits like encouraging introspection and flow of ideas, boosting writing and communication skills, improving reading and comprehension, and even stimulating creativity.
There is also some evidence that it may even help someone cope with stress, and anxiety.
So, these might be good reasons to get your kids into journaling while they’re still young.
It may just give them the tools they need to flourish later as teens and adults later in their lives.
How to Encourage Your Kids to Journal
Get Them the Tools
Getting your child a nice, pretty notebook may give them a good excuse to write in it.
Similarly, a beautiful writing pen can also do the trick. Kids love novelty items that are pretty to look at and even more fun to use.
Don’t be too enthusiastic though. Your gifts may end up being ornamental decorations or doodling instruments. Especially if your kids are a little too young to appreciate the power of the written word.
But even so, if they are truly interested in journaling they will eventually learn to do it at their own pace.
They may even end up improving their handwriting and searching for and learning new words to accurately describe what they feel and experience.
A dictionary, in this case, or rather a dictionary app on their phone, is another good journaling gift to include.
Journal in Front of Them
This may sound pretentious but sitting down in front of your kids to do your own journaling is far more effective than forcing them to do it outright.
Unlike adults, kids may not have many excuses to journal everyday, or even every week. Such is the privilege of not living a stressful, complicated, adult life.
So, don’t be discouraged if they don’t become avid journal-keepers right off the bat.
You can journal in the living room where they play, or at the dining table. Somewhere your kids can get a full view of you deep in contemplation.
It may inspire them to get their own journaling underway.
Allow Their Creativity to Flow
Journaling doesn’t always have to involve words.
Creative journaling, for instance, is a method of scrap-booking that involves decorating pages with stickers, paint, crayons, mementos, magazine cut-outs and other odds and ends based on a theme or story.
It’s a very artistic, abstract and freeform method of self-expression that breaks the typical journaling mold of only writing with words.
Some writing may be included such as a short passage about an experience, or a poem or a quote, but the bulk of the entry is mostly decorative.
The sky is the limit with scrapbooking.
Some good prompts for children are vacations, school holidays, and even any books they’ve read or movies that they’ve watched.
Respect Their Privacy
Some parents might go through their kids’ personal belongings, which may include diaries.
Not only is this a gross violation of privacy, but it also means that you’re testing the limits of their trust. And a child’s trust should never be broken.
No matter what they write in their diary, you should never ask to see or read it. Not unless they willingly show you.
But this may no longer be the case once they’re grown up.
Whatever the case may be, in order to encourage journaling in your kids, remember to always respect their privacy and never try to unearth their secrets. It’s probably for the best.
Journaling the Way to Success
There are many benefits to journaling, and not all of them can be wholly quantified with scientific research.
For some, journaling can be as much a cathartic experience as it is an introspective one.
Your child may end up going through enlightening periods of self-discovery.
And just like Socrates once said, which is now one of his most famous quotes, “To know thyself is the beginning of wisdom“.
We may often believe too much about what others say about us, but at the end of the day, we need to decide for ourselves our own paths in life, our goals and aspirations. Our dreams and desires.
And journaling is one of the best ways someone can accomplish this.
So, teach the art of journaling to your child.
It will open up worlds of insight and perception that will serve them well as they grow up and find their own place in the world.
You’ve got this, parents!
Disclaimer: The information provided in this article is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as medical advice from Motherhood. For any health-related concerns, it is advisable to consult with a qualified healthcare professional or medical practitioner.
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