3 Ways Journaling Can Benefit Your Child

If you think journaling is old-fashioned, then think again! In today’s fast paced world, journaling is a healthy habit that encourages one to take a step back and process the hustle and bustle of 21st century living. But, not only does keeping a diary allow you to keep a record of important events in your life, there are numerous ways in which children can benefit from journaling. Read on to discover how!

Why Your Child Should Start Journaling:

1. Learn How to Manage Their Feelings

Childhood is full of memorable moments and fresh experiences. Think back on your first day of school, your 8th birthday party, your family vacations. These events are part and parcel of growing up, but accompanying them are also new and unexpected feelings and thoughts that children may not easily be able to manage by themselves.

Journaling provides the little ones with a safe space for them to jot down their emotions and reflect on what they went through. Growing up, they may even look back on their earlier entries and find strength and solace from their experiences in the past.

2. Cultivate a Love for Writing

Through journaling, children can begin to experience writing in a whole new way. Unlike in school where they are forced to write about things they don’t care about, in their journal they can pick the topics and themes that they want to write about. They also need not fear about judgement or correction, journaling is a form of free expression and they can take comfort in the knowledge that what they write is private and for themselves.

Unlike schoolwork which doesn’t always have a clear link between children’s lives and their assignments, journaling about things important to them can show the little ones that writing can be substantial and meaningful. This also empowers them to believe that their ideas, thoughts, and feelings matter, which in turn nurtures their confidence and self-esteem.

Here’s a tip: Encourage your child to pick out a journal of their own and decorate it with things that they like. Personalisation helps to make journals feel special, and cements a bond between your little one and their journal. You can even buy them special stationery or stickers that they can use when writing their journal entries. Nowhere else will they be able to find a journal that’s just like their own.

3. Improve their Writing Skills

By keeping a journal, children practise many of the skills needed to write compelling stories and express their ideas coherently. From paying attention to the environment around them to using descriptive language to describe what they see and feel, journaling can do wonders to develop a child’s vocabulary and awareness of the nuances of the English language.

The more they write, the more they become aware of simple concepts, like knowing the components that constitute full sentences. Eventually, this will lead to being able to fathom more complex ideas like how paragraphs are made up of many sentences surrounding one topic.

Furthermore, a journal acts as a repository of your little one’s writings over a long period of time. This gives your child an opportunity to review his or her earlier work and reflect on how far they have improved. But most of all, by journaling regularly, your child is consistently practising and honing their craft, which is the best way of getting better at writing.

What Should Your Child Journal About?

Absolutely anything! Journals don’t just have to be recollections of their lives; they can be a creative platform for your children to express their views about anything they want. As parents, you can even provide your little ones with ideas to get the gears rolling. Consider suggesting topics or themes that your child is enthusiastic about or prompts related to subjects they love to read about.

Here are some prompts you can consider to get the ball rolling:

What was one thing that made you happy today?
What was a challenge you faced recently? How did you overcome it?
Who do you admire and why?
What is your dream job?
What superpower do you want?
If a genie gave you three wishes right now, what would you wish for?
Who is your favourite book character?
What would you do if you two had the whole day together?

Final Thoughts

Journaling is a powerful habit to instil in children from an early age, as being able to reflect and explore one’s own ideas and feelings is an essential skill throughout life. Whilst journaling can be tricky to set into motion, putting aside a specific time for your little one to write, perhaps an hour or two before bedtime, can be a great way to develop a routine and get them into the habit of journaling. Before you know it, your kids will be eagerly penning down something new every day into their journals and you won’t be able to stop them.

Journaling is a core feature of our Wonderlit Write (Creative Writing) programme. Children are given journal prompts to work on each week, which are presented and discussed in class. Find out more about our programme here, or, discover what makes it different from other creative writing programmes in Singapore.