Creative Jou aling: Six Tips To Engage Creativity and Encourage Consistent Jou aling

Your child starts a jou
al with great enthusiasm, has all the intentions in the world of keeping at it, and, months later, you find the jou
al laying on the bookshelf covered in dust. Sound familiar? Well, I've got the perfect solution for you! It's called creative jou
aling.

Creative jou
aling makes the jou
al writing process more enjoyable, fun and creative and can help your child overcome some of the barriers that may be keeping her (or him) from consistent--maybe even daily--jou
aling.

When presenting workshops on creative jou
aling, I often begin by asking the participants to describe to me what comes to mind when they envision themselves writing in a jou
al. The typical and common response I receive to my question goes something like this, "I sit and write about what happened to me that day." Although this is an apt description of jou
al writing, it does not sound particularly fun, exciting or enjoyable. In fact, it sounds boring. This is exactly why, I believe, so many diaries and jou
als languish on bookshelves and what, in my opinion, stops a child from choosing jou
al writing as a regular and consistent activity.

Integrating creativity with jou
al writing can transform jou
aling from a mundane activity to a wildly enjoyable and fun one. The preconceived notion of jou
aling held by most kids is strong, however, and initially they hesitate when encouraged to get creative with their jou
als. But once it clicks that they can freely express their thoughts using both words and creativity their eyes light up!

Oh, and I have really hooked both boys and girls interest in creative jou
aling when I offer them spangles, foam cut-outs, colorful feathers and glue to further embellish their jou
als. It's not long before they are laughing, giggling, creating, and jou
al writing. What a glorious sight it is. Huge smiles emerge on their faces and their eyes sparkle and shine with joy as they enjoy their creative jou
aling experience.

To help guide you and your child down the path of creative jou
aling I've listed some tips below.

Try them out, add your own, or make up new ones and remember that there are infinite ways for you and your child to dress up a jou
al and integrate creative expression into your jou
al writing experiences.

Creative Jou
aling Tips:

1. Jou
al Share - Make the jou
al experience interactive rather than secretive and solitary. Take a new approach to jou
al writing and declare that diaries are for secrets and jou
als are now for celebrating and sharing. This will allow you to play an active part in helping your child to complete their jou
al.

2. Brighten Jou
als with Color - Toss those pens and pencils aside and use markers, crayons and colored pencils instead. You will be amazed at how beautiful and joyful a jou
al becomes simply by adding color!

3. Summarize. Summarize. Summarize! - There is no need to write page after page in a jou
al. A few words that summarize a day, or how you feel, or a few bulleted points that highlight the day's events is sufficient. Keep it short and simple and to the point by writing less than 10, 20 or 30 words, depending on your time constraints.

4. Write One Word - If you and your child have had a long day and do not have much time or energy left over for jou
al writing, simply choose one word that encapsulates the day and write that word across the entire page in big bold letters. Upon review at a later date you will be surprised how much can be recalled from this single word!

5. Make It Sparkle and Shine - Use stickers, spangles, glue, magazine cutouts, craft supplies, and be sure to ask Mom if you can use some of her spare crafting supplies that are stashed away in a drawer somewhere! Get creative but keep it simple; this need not be a major production.

6. No Such Thing as Right or Wrong - Lastly, and most importantly, emphasize that there are no right or wrong answers while jou
aling. Jou
al writing should be freeing, not limiting, so give your child permission to break the rules they are required to follow in school (spelling, grammar...) so that they may fully and creatively express themselves.

When jou
al writing becomes a creative adventure full of choices and options jou
als cease to languish on bookshelves and kids discover a positive and powerful tool of self-expression.

As an added bonus, the completed creative jou
als become cherished keepsakes that can be used as tools of self-growth and reflection or as records of achievement and change.

Just remember to keep it simple, get creative, but most of all remember to make the jou
al writing process enjoyable and fun for you and your child!