Many kids love to journal but just don’t know where to start. I think many adults also feel this way. Kids journal prompts are a genius way to promote creativity and inspire dialogue within your children. Journalling has many benefits for children that extend into countless areas of life. It can be one of the paramount ways that you can help your children develop a love for writing and learning how to express themselves.
25 Kids Journal Prompts
- If you could meet one person from your family history who would it be and why?
- Where would you travel if you could go anywhere?
- What would you do with 1 million dollars?
- What would you like to change about where you live?
- Do you remember a time that someone made your day?
- Have you ever secretly done something kind for another person?
- What is a mistake you have made, and what did you learn from it?
- If you could have a super power what would it be, and what would you use it for?
- What do you wish people knew about you?
- What is something that you are afraid of?
- Where do you see yourself in 5 years time?
- Would you rather lots of gifts or an adventure for your birthday?
- What things always make you laugh?
- What is the best part of your life?
- If you could travel in a time machine where would you go?
- What can you remember about your first day of school?
- Do you have a moment in your life that you are really proud of?
- What can you do to make the world better this week?
- How will you change the world?
- What is something that you really want to be good at? How can you make that happen?
- What is a super interesting fact that you know?
- How can your parents help you this week
- What do you like most about yourself
- Think about someone who loves you, how do they show you that they love you.
- Look out your window and describe everything you see. Don’t forget the date!
The Benefits of Kids Journal Prompts
Kids journal prompts give kids a starting point to their writing. I have noticed that for my more reluctant writers that asking them to just sit in front of a blank piece of paper and write usually ends in tears. They simply don’t know where to even begin.
Journal prompts help kids to have a diving board on which to launch their ideas. With some prompts my children will write for pages and pages other prompts they will only write a few lines.
Writing is a beneficial way to organise thoughts and process what can sometimes be messy and difficult emotions. When I know one of my children are going through a tough period I will often select a kids journal prompt that will help them to work through those emotions. I almost always see a change in attitude and behaviour once the task is completed.
One example was when two of my children were having a hard time with each other. The fighting was becoming unbearable for not just the pair of them but for the entire family. The journal prompt I assigned was “What is the best part about having “insert name” as a sibling.” At the end of the task they swapped papers and there were a few tears but over the next week we saw their hearts soften towards each other and the fighting dissipate.
What is a Big Life Journal?
The Big Life Journal is a guided journal that children complete with a buddy. This buddy is usually a parent, older sibling or other mentor.
This journal promotes a growth mindset wherein it encourages children to be able to learn from their failures. More importantly it helps them to recognise failures as merely stepping stones along the road to success.
What I really love about this journal is that it emphasises the power of “Yet”. Many children become fixed in the mindset that if they are aren’t successful immediately that they are not ever going to succeed. The power of yet pushes the child to believe that although they may not have succeeded the truth is simply they have not succeeded YET.
Each journal prompt shares a story from a famous person and talks about their setbacks and their achievements. From there the child and their buddy follow the prompts for journalling and discussing. There are tasks for the child to complete that encourage follow on from the lessons in the journal.
Alongside the journal are also an abundance of printables that we have used on countless occasions. These are purpose designed kids journal prompts with a specific purpose. For example when my daughter was struggling with perfectionism I worked through the perfectionism printable with her. We have also found the gratitude kids journal prompts incredibly valuable.
These journals are hugely popular and for good reason. I highly recommend them to all families. The creators put so much effort and time into creating amazing resources for children.
More Kids Journals with Prompts
I want to hightlight a few other giuded kids journals that are beneficial. Journalling is something that I feel passionately about especially for children.
Parent and Child Journals
My oldest son and I have a mother and son journal and it has been one of the sweetest experiences. I suffered from post natal depression significantly after he was born and it really affected my ability to bond with him as easily as I did his siblings. This journal was a tangible way in which I could work on that relationship and it was one of the best ways to bring us closer.
The journal has prompts for you as the parent and ones for your child. It is really quite funny to read what your child writes and as an adult some of the questions really get you thinking. We would leave it under each others pillows to find at night. It was a lot of fun to pass between each other and have something special that was just ours.
Nature Journals
My daughter loves everything about nature. I feel like should should have been born in a forest somewhere. Nature is somthing that inspires her and boosts her creativity.
Nature journalling in just a natural follow on from that love. It is fantastic as a parent when I can intertwine her passions into other aspects of her life. For other ideas on what to do with your kids in nature look at this post
We are in the process of developing our own nature journal but in the meantime the one we love is this one here. It is a nature journal with a christian background however if you are after something secular this one here is also brilliant and has a similar layout
Gratitude Journals
Gratitude is something I work hard on with our children. We all want our children to grow up being grateful and gracious children. Gratitude takes work and is learned. A gratidtude journal is a way to encourage children to look for opportunties to be grateful and to show gratitude for the things they have and the experiences they encounter.
Gratitude journals the include kids journal prompts are the best way to go here. We really like the concept behind the 3 Minute Gratitude Journal. This is perfect for kids ages 7+. I love that it is something quick and easy that they can do just before bed and go to sleep with a grateful heart.
How to Help Your Child Journal
Helping your child learn how to journal can take a little bit of time but I encourage you to persever if at first you don’t succeed. The best advice I can give you is to stop as soon as it becomes a fight. You do not want journalling to become somthing that is resented rather than enjoyed. Hopefully these ideas will help you have more success.
Start Simple and Lower Expectations
When my children are very young I have them dictate to me and I write down what they want to say. This is crucial for children just learning to write and articulate themselves through written word.
I may ask them one of my favourite kids journal prompts such as “if you had a super power what would it be”. This one usually always gets a good story and a lot of crazy sound effects! The aim is to inspire them to express themselves and become confident in doing so.
For my older children I set a timer and tell them they have 10 mins to write as much as they can. I do not worry about spelling and grammar or how tidy their handwriting is. This alone eliminates a huge amount of stress and give them the freedom to simply write.
Set a Time
Since we homeschool our children we often incorporate journalling into our school day. I find that it is best done earlier in the day for our children but as my kids have gotten older they have started to prefer night time journalling.
It is now something the older two enjoy doing at night before bed. They find it to be a great way to unwind from the day and prepare themselves for sleep.
You do what is best for your family but just try to be consistent with it.
Journal Somewhere Fun
It is always fun when you can take your journal somewhere interesting and exciting. We have a beautiful forest with a storybook like creek that runs through it that is less that 10 minutes from our house. This is a favourite for journalling. The little boys play quietly while the older two can find a quiet spot to write.
Other places that are fun for journaling are beaches, gardens and parks.
Make It A Family Affair
Some of the best journalling experiences we have had have been when we have all joined in. For example asking everyone in the family to write one of the kids journal prompts and then share at the end always ends up being a fun family activity.
The best part about this is that everyone learns something interesting about each other.
