Journaling for Kids: Top 7 Reasons to Encourage Journaling and Handy Tricks to Get Started

As parents or even teachers, we all have one shared goal – to give children all the knowledge, skills, and tools they need to grow into successful, kind, compassionate, and confident adults. In pursuit of this goal, we are looking for different tactics and methods that could bring additional benefits, and one of such tools, thought somewhat underestimated, is journaling.

Numerous studies have long proved the benefits of journaling for our personalities, skills, and mental health. In this article, we will tell you everything you need to know about the benefits of journaling for kids and share some handy tips on how to incorporate this habit into your child’s life. Let’s dive in!

7 Ways Kids Benefit from Journaling

If you think about the benefits a child can acquire through journaling, one of the first ideas that will likely cross your mind is academic success. Indeed, journaling can’t help but stimulate the improvement of a child’s writing skills, which, in its turn, will definitely come in handy later at school and then in college. A regular journaling practice will help a child handle various written assignments at school and college easily and get high grades.

While it is definitely an advantage, we all know that today it is possible to keep up good grades with ease. All you need is a reliable academic help service that can write essays for money, and you are all set for success. With this in mind, the improvement of writing skills no longer seems to be such a big deal. But, trust us, there are many other benefits of journaling.

Journaling has much more to it than it can seem from first sight. It can bring deep internal benefits that will help your child grow into a confident and successful person. Let’s look at some of the biggest benefits:

1.   Boosted Creativity

Many of the 21st century’s most successful people, regardless of the industry, confirm that creativity is the key to everything. Having an imaginative mind helps us think outside of the box and find creative solutions to literally any problem. Needless to say that these skills are vital for achieving success in anything you do.

Journaling, in its turn, is closely associated with creativity. Practicing it regularly since childhood enables kids to unleash their creative potential.

2.   Improved Communication Skills

It’s clear that journaling improves writing skills, but what many forget about is that it also enhances one’s communication skills. Improved communication skills help a child become more outgoing, social, and confident, which will have a huge benefit that will bear fruit in the kid’s future.

3.   Looking at Stuff from a Different Angle

This benefit may not be as obvious as others. Still, journaling regularly also teaches kids to see things from different perspectives and develop an objective assessment (or solution) for pretty much any situation. Simply put, it fosters critical thinking and the ability to rationalize.

4.   Enhancing Reading Comprehension

Just like writing, reading comprehension is one of those essential skills each of us needs to possess. Journaling is a perfect way to stimulate this ability. When writing and going back to their own entries, kids will develop a strong ability to gain a sound understanding of the text they are reading.

5.   Developing an Eye for Detail

Having solid attention to detail can be helpful in so many ways. From some everyday personal tasks to professional challenges in adulthood, it always requires having an eye for detail in order to be able to find solutions to various problems. So, this is one more way how kids can benefit from journaling.

6.   Clearer Expression of Thought

Developing a strong ability to express one’s thoughts in a clear and meaningful way is another way to use journaling to the benefit of kids. Writing by default requires a solid structure, so when children engage in the writing practice regularly, they learn to structure their ideas better.

7.   Mental Health

Though at an early age, your child is not likely going through any intensive or often emotional swings, he or she will definitely face stresses in the future. Unfortunately, it’s just inevitable. Thus, one of your biggest tasks as a parent is to spread awareness of stress and anxiety and teach your kid to process complex thoughts or emotions by setting up a self-dialogue.

Journaling is great for mental health. It is a powerful tool for defeating stress, managing feelings, and fostering positive thinking. Thus, if you turn it into a habit since childhood, it will help your kid maintain mental health and a positive attitude later on.

How to Jump-Start Your Kids to Start Journaling?

Knowing about all the benefits of journaling for kids, many parents are now probably wondering how to encourage their children to start practicing journaling on a regular basis.

There is no secret that forcing kids into doing something is the opposite of “effective.” No matter how hard you try, coercion will inevitably result in the child’s protest and will kill the effectiveness of the endeavor. Instead, in order to help your children acquire a positive habit such as journaling, you need to find ways to get and keep them interested.

In this part of our article, we are going to share with you a few simple hacks on how to motivate your children to start journaling:

1. Take time to explain to your kid what it means to keep a journal and give them full freedom to use their journals however they wish. Let go of the process and let your child express himself creatively.
2. If a kid is interested in starting a journal but needs an extra push to generate the right idea for it, brainstorm together to define a suitable direction. It can be pretty much anything, from hobbies and interests to traveling, everyday life, arts, or anything else.
3. In case your kid is not interested in journaling, don’t push. Instead, turn it into a family activity to spark interest.
4. If your kid is too young to keep a journal yet, but you want a habit to start developing early on, consider starting a photo journal together with a child. It will be just as creative as regular journaling and can be later transformed into something bigger and more mindful.
5. Let it be something personal. Of course, as a parent, you will be extremely interested in what your child’s journal is about. However, if a child doesn’t want to share it with anyone, don’t push. It is important that you don’t violate their privacy. You should ensure that your kid feels like his or her journal is a safe and private space where they can be themselves. This will help them develop personal boundaries and get the most benefit from this endeavor.

These simple tricks should help you get your kid engaged in journaling and keep them interested in the process.

Final Thought

In conclusion, there is one more tip we’d like to share – be supportive. Show a child that what they’re doing matters to you and provide help or advice when necessary. Your support and attention will help retain a positive attitude and achieve more positive results.