Journal Journies

A PLAYING SMART ACTIVITY

Diaries for the Post-Diaper Set
“Know thyself” is great advice at any age – and getting to know oneself can also be downright fun. A perfect way to get your kids started on a lifelong journey of self-exploration is to introduce them to the idea of keeping a journal. You may associate diary-keeping with preteen girls, but you can help even very young children get started. When my son Simon was in his teens, he reread the diary entries he’d dictated as a 4- and 5-year-old and mourned that he hadn’t begun when he was 2 or 3!

Why should a kid keep a diary? Here are a few good reasons for your child to begin recording his or her daily life:

• Catharsis – There’s no safer place to express difficult feelings. Preschoolers and school-age kids have lots of experiences and emotions to cope with. And if your child is in her turbulent preteens, she’s at a particularly suitable time for starting a diary.

• Insight into growing up and help in dealing with change – Struggling to put her feelings into words adds to your child’s self-knowledge and self-esteem.

• Better powers of observation and sharpened senses – The diarist turns not only inward to record feelings, but outward to record actual happenings. Before long, your child will be noticing the ordinary in a fresh new way, with an eye toward writing it all down later.

• Development of a writing style and language skills – In a journal, your child can experiment with language in an unpressured way.

• A more active imagination – Keeping a diary may inspire your child to try other nonfiction or fiction writing and creative projects.