Journal for Kids – Life According to Me
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A darling journal for kids with daily prompts, fun fill-in-the-blanks, and spaces for them to draw and doodle!
Here are a few more journal ideas for your family – Printable Goal Journal, Pregnancy Journal, and Monthly Family Journal Pages.
As a mom of 5 little kids, I often wish I could take a peak into their young minds and see what it is that makes them think, feel and act how they do. Do you have children? Nieces and nephews? Students? You get it, right?
I adore these kids more than anything in the world, but sometimes I worry that I’m not communicating with them very well, like I might be missing a teachable moment or something to help them grow and learn and feel safe, valued and loved.
While expressing my thoughts on the matter one night in my own journal, I had an idea to create a journal for my kids where they could express their thoughts too.
…But it needed to be more than a book with lined pages- it needed to be fun, interactive, and something they would want to share with me. My thought was if I could get my kid’s creative juices flowing and open the door for communication, the conversation would freely flow and I could catch a glimpse of what was going on in their little brains.
And so I created this:
Journal For Kids
“Life, According to Me” is a darling child’s journal written by me and designed by Hayley Castle. It is 50 pages of daily prompts, fun fill-in-the-blanks, and spaces for them to draw and doodle.
It is perfect for kids of all ages! My 9 year old writes his thoughts, my 4 year old draws pictures and my 6 year old does a combination of both!
On each journal page, I left a spot open for them to write me a letter and I left a place for my response. I absolutely LOVE having this personal portal into their young minds. It is priceless!!!
They write about ANYTHING they want – from funny things that happened at school, to questions about their science projects. We’ve had conversations about the class bully, Santa Claus, the reasons my 9 year old absolutely “needs” a new bike, and their secret crush of the week.
I get to experience moments of their day that I would have missed and the small details of their lives I could have easily brushed aside.
Then, I get to show my appreciation for them, to make sure they know that I love them. I can validate their thoughts so they know they were heard and I even get to share bits of wisdom when a moment presents itself.
I love that these letters have created a place for us to communicate with each other frequently.
Make Journaling Fun for Kids
It is important to make journal writing fun so they don’t get burned out. (I don’t want this magic passageway to close up or disappear!)
I let each of them pick one weeknight where they get to stay up 10-15 minutes passed bedtime. They climb in my bed where we can write in our journals, together. (It is amazing what a later bedtime does for a kid!)
They get to stay up while their siblings go to bed + I get to spend some individual time with them. It is a win-win!
Start creating precious moments within your home TODAY!
- Create a closer relationship with your child.
- Document their lives and capture their personalities
- Offer comfort and support when they may feel alone or scared
- Create a priceless piece of family history, a special keepsake to share with their future children.
Start the new year with the best investment of your life- time well spent with your child!
This is such a small investment in money and time, but the “payout” is HUGE!
Steph, this is genius! I am in love with this idea! I love how fun and creative the pages look too. Cannot wait to start it with my boys. I am adding this to my New Years Resolutions for the year. It will help me with journaling too. I am not so good at it either!
Ahhh, thanks Tasha! Best of luck as a mom of 4!!!! 🙂 4 is fun, I promise! WAY better than 3! 🙂
These are so adorable and what a great product to cherish the simple things!!
Thanks Kristy! 🙂
LOVE it Steph!! Can’t wait to download it!!
Thanks Jamielyn! 🙂
OMG!!! Such a great idea!!! I wonder if there’s a way to personalize it You’ll see, I’m from Buenos Aires, in Argentina and our mother tongue is Spanish and although my kid is 4 and can’t read yet, I would like him to keep using it once he learns t read and write by himself. 🙂 Have a great 2013! Cris
Right now there isn’t a way to personalize it, unless you can do it yourself. But my husband speaks spanish, so perhaps he can translate it later on down the road and we can sell a spanish version!
What a wonderful idea! My little guy is still a little too young but what a wonderful thing to have for his future!
Thanks Christina! Snuggle your boy while he is still little- they grow up so fast!
Great idea! Does this include the cover page that you show that says “life according to me”?
Yep! The cover is included!
Hi Steph, Congratulations on your e-book! It sounds and looks amazing. As a future educator I understand the importance of open communication between children and parents, but also how hard it can be. Your book is excellent. I’ll definetly be recommending it to parents of students in my class. Thankyou for your lovely comment on my site 🙂 I’m officially baptised now, and I’m receiving the Holy Ghost in 3 hours! Love, Tash (1brokegirl)
I am so happy for you Tash! What a great way to start the new year!!! And thanks for spreading the word about my eBook, I really appreciate it! {{{Hugs!}}}
This is brilliant! I love it! I homeschool my girls and this would be such an excellent addition to their mornings as an occassional treat! I have perhaps a silly question… I have 4 daughters (3 of whom would use the journal), would I need to buy them each a copy or can I print multiple copies of the download?
Thanks Amy, I am glad you like it! And you just have to purchase 1 and print it as many times as you’d like, just as long as each use is for your family and you aren’t passing them out to friends. Thanks for asking! 🙂
This is wonderful Stephanie!! I need one for me!! Is the big kids version next on your list???LOL!! Congrats!!
Actually it is!!! I have most of the prompts written, I just need to organize it and have my designer work her magic! 🙂 Thanks Laura, so good to hear from you!!!
So excited that there will be a “big kid” version! The original would work great for my younger 2 but wasn’t sure the older one would play along. 🙂 Is there a way to get an email when the older one is ready for purchase or should I just keep checking back? Any ideas on a date? Thanks so much!
No date set yet, but I will be emailing all the people who have bought the little kid version when it becomes available. I’ll probably include it in my newsletter, so stay tuned! 🙂 Thanks for your excitement!!!
What an absolutely amazing idea! I am definitely going to do this once I have kids 🙂
Thanks Daisy! I appreciate the compliment! 🙂
How did you make it into a book? did you take it someplace or past the pages into notebook? it looks so cute!
I just hole-punched it and stuck it in a notebook, but I know you can take it to any office supply store (staples, office max etc) and they have several binding options available. I’ve been meaning to get one bound so I can check out the prices, but I haven’t made it that far yet! 🙂
I wondered about binding it, as well. Would there be a problem with your copyright if I took it to Staples? Maybe they don’t even care?
I’ve never heard of there being a copyright issue with binding it, they usually just care about the copyright if you are reprinting something. But I guess you could bring your receipt to the store just in case there is. If you do have a problem with it, would you mind letting me know so I can look into a solution? 🙂 Thanks for stopping by Chelsea!
I guess I was wondering about having them print it before they bound it. I had that in my head – didn’t you figure that out:) My printer is the pits and I thought of having them print and bind it for my 3 kids.
Ha ha! I am glad I am not the only one who just assumes people know what I mean when I talk! 🙂 I don’t think there is an issue with the copyright, but if they say something, let me know and I can write you a note of permission. 🙂
Hi. Just purchased mine and am so excited to start it with my 6 year old!!! Question…do you just stick with the once a week unless your kiddos request it more than that and re-print a copy when they fill there first one or how do you do that part??
My kids can write in it as often as they want, but I only spend one night a week writing in my journal along side them. And we haven’t filled this journal out completely- I just got it finished on December 14th, so we still have plenty of pages to complete. I will let you in on a little secret- I am actually working on more pages! 🙂 So feel free to print this same journal over and over, or stay tuned for the next set of prompts! 🙂 Thanks for your purchase Sara!
Hi –
I purchased mine last week for my 4 kids and I love it. The pages are printed, but I’m deciding what to do for binding purposes… in the picture, it looks like a real “book” with the cover page wrapping around to the spine. Is that just photoshop magic? I’m curious how to make this hold up and look great for years to come. I’d love anyone’s insight! Thanks!
I haven’t tried it yet, but depending on how some of the pages come out my thought was to scan them once the kids are done with them, save them as a pds or jpg file. Then, at the end of the year I might make a photo book like through shutterfly or picaboo & add some of the scanned journal pages throughout the book.
I didn’t even think about the copyright …. hmmm, maybe that won’t work?
I love that idea- I should do that with my kids pages too! That would make this keepsake even more specia! And I honestly don’t think there will be a copyright issue- if there is, let me know and I will write a release and email it to you! 🙂
Is there a limit on how many kids you can use your book for? I would like to send a link to this to my kids’ teacher, since I think some of the pages might be a really fun activity for the class to do sometimes! She has 22 kids in the class.
This is for personal use only, so if she bought it she could use it for her classroom, as long as she wasn;t making copies for the other teachers at her school. 🙂
Just purchased this. So cute! Thanks
Thanks so much! I am glad you like it! 🙂
I love this idea!! My husband is deployed and I am going to use these pages with my seven year old to write back and forth with daddy. She will love writing in it all the time anyway but the bonus of having her and daddy exchange thoughts and ideas is perfect!! Looking forward to the additions and the adult version!! Thanks.
Ahhh, your idea made my eyes tear up- I love the idea of having your seven year old correspond with her dad! What a sweet idea! I appreciate your family’s service to our country and I wish you guys all the best!
My son and I have been doing a journal like this for about a year and LOVE it. We pick out a reg smash book or journal and customize it. I would love this idea if it came in actual book form. DO you have any plans for that in the future?
I am actually looking into having this printed and bound as we speak! Stay tuned! 🙂
Hi! I love this idea but I am a duh and I ordered three e-books not realizing that it was a download. I was wondering if I could get a refund for the 2 extra downloads that I don’t need? I’m not sure how else to contact you. THANKS
wow this is gorgeous! love the idea! thanks
Awesome! I can’t wait!! They will love this!
Thanks Robyn!
So adorable!! I wish I would have had this when my girls were young. I love it!! Pinned 🙂