Journaling for children

Daily reflection Journal Keeping a journal provides a safe space to express emotions, develop language skills, foster creativity, improve writing abilities, and build self-awareness. For young children who are pre-reading and pre-writing you can give them time, space, paper and pen. Ask them to draw what they are feeling today. Ask them to draw on one page to show that. You may even want to clip the other pages back with a basic binder paper clip so the rest of the book is not drawn on. Allow for five to 20 minutes. Once they are done ask them to tell you about their drawing. Write a title and the date. Then put the journal away for the next time. You can return to the drawing in the future so they may reflect upon what they drew later. By reflecting on their experiences through journaling, children develop critical thinking skills and the ability to analyze situations. Your child will enjoy going through these journals for years to come.