Journaling Tips for Kids

When we say journaling is for everyone – we mean it! If you have young kids that are 
learning how to write and put their thoughts onto paper, journaling can be a great 
practice for them. Here are some tips to help your kids get started with journaling.


Make Journaling Fun for Kids

If you want your younger kids to write in a journal, it helps to make it fun for them. It is 
going to seem like a chore at first, since writing isn’t the most enjoyable thing for kids to 
do. But not only will it help them make sense of their young thoughts, but it is an 
amazing way for them to practice their writing skills. 

To make journaling fun for kids, it all starts with the materials they use. Get them some 
colorful journals or notebooks with their favorite characters, and let them pick out 
whatever pens or writing utensils they want to use. Using colored pencils and adding 
coloring pages to their journals is another great option.


Provide a Small Desk or Area of a Table

While teens and adults might be ok sitting on the couch to write in their journal, kids 
have a harder time focusing like this. To get them into the entire journaling process, 
provide them with an area used for this purpose. This might a desk they use for their 
schoolwork, or just a corner of the dining room table or dinner table. 

You can even set it up with some fun things to make them excited about the routine, 
such as putting on some of their favorite music, getting fun placemats for beneath their 
journal, or adding different coloring supplies to use.


Give Them Child-Friendly Prompts

It also helps to give your kids something to write about in their journals, especially in the 
beginning. Some kids don’t like the diary style of daily journaling and instead need a 
little push. You can find journaling prompts specifically for kids of different ages that will 
get their minds thinking about something specific. In many cases, they are just simple 
questions or statements to write about. Here are some examples:

What is your favorite subject at school?
What is the earliest memory you have?
What are you excited for?
What is your favorite thing about the holidays?
What do you want to don on summer break?




