You do not need to be an explorer of far off places in order to record your adventures in a travel journal. Nor do you need to be an adult with killer writing and drawing skills.
In fact.
Encouraging your child to record their adventures, no matter how small, in a travel journal provides not only a fabulous way to record precious memories, but it also provides excellent educational opportunities.
AND
You don’t have to be taking a long, fancy, expensive, vacation in order to keep a travel journal. Our kids have many, many pages on which they have recorded day-trips and visits to friends and relatives, as well as what you might consider an “actual holiday.”
Reasons Why Travel Journals Are Fabulous For Kids
Before I move onto the reasons why travel journals are fabulous for kids I’d like to make one small point. When talking about travel journals for kids I am not suggesting you go out and buy a lined or blank paged, hardbacked notebook. Nor am I saying that any child should be made to sit down and write X number of words every evening.
No.
A kids travel journal should be a child-driven, free-form creation. Don’t:
- Tell your kiddos what to write. – If they’re stuck, by all means, make suggestions, but try not to instruct.
- Correct their spelling, grammar, or other similar items. Instead, make a note of the items they have struggled with and work on those when you get home.
- Dismiss their thoughts or feelings by telling them “that’s silly” or “You don’t really feel that way.”
So, with that in mind….Here are the reasons I think kids should create a travel journal.
A Travel Journal For Kids Preserves Precious Memories
There is only so much room in our heads for memories. No matter how much be enjoy a vacation or a day out, as we age, all of those little details fall away. What we are left with is memories of happiness and enjoyment.
By recording experiences at the time, kids create a storehouse of memories they can access in the years which follow. Being 30 years old and looking back to see how much you adored the cup in which your drink was bought to you on a particular day, is a joy.
It’s Excellent For Developing Communication Skills
Sitting down and organising your thoughts is a priceless skill which is difficult to teach. Keeping a travel journal helps kids to:
- Think about what has happened during the day
- Decide how they felt about it
- Sort out what is important to them and what is not
- Work out how to take all of that information and transfer it to the page
A Travel Journal Is Good For Mental Health
Do you know that point I just mentioned?
The one about your child deciding how they felt about their day?
Taking some quiet time to sit, sort, and reflect is important for all of us, but it is not necessarily something we encourage in our children. But we should.
By encouraging your child to keep a travel journal you’ll be helping them to sort out what they have done during the day and how they feel about it.
Because let’s face it.
Holidays aren’t all fun and frolics. It can be tiring, the weather can be draining, and not all of the food and drink we encounter is delicious. Not only that, our kids might be missing their friends or a pet or feeling overwhelmed by all of the new sights and sounds. Having to be in constant close proximity to siblings can rub some kids up the wrong way and so to can the inevitable disappointments caused by not being able to do all of the exciting activities dangled under your nose on vacation.
A Travel Journal Can Promote Creativity
Keeping a travel journal is not about writing page after page of bland information. Instead, it is an opportunity for your child to explore their creativity by writing, drawing, creating a collage, in fact, in a journal, anything goes.
And you never know, your kiddos may discover a previously untapped love or skill they might never have otherwise uncover.
Free Downloadable Travel Journal
If you’d like to encourage your little one to begin a travel journal, here is a free, printable journal with three different types of pages to get you started.
