Start a Summer Memories Journal

With summer upon us it's the time of year for family reunions, trips to the beach, day trip adventures and visits with friends.  What better way to capture these memories than with a journal or scrap book? 

Kids are natural collectors and story tellers and keeping a record of summer adventures is a great way to continue to build reading, writing and drawing skills over the summer.

To get your kids on board, begin by selecting a special notebook or album to collect pictures, stories and memories.  My own kids have been particularly motivated by having someone to share their books with - whether it is classmates, friends, a neighbor or grandparent; this can provide good practice writing for an audience. 

While the sharing can be good short term motivation, the possibility of being able to look back on memories in future years is a great long-term motivation for a journal project.  These records will be a treasure for kids and parents.

Photos, collages and drawings can provide great starting points for stories and descriptions.  On a trip to California, my children saved maps from amusement parks we visited and then added pictures and stories to tell about their favorite things.  Lists can also be a good format. 

A journal can be a place for planning as well as recording.  Maybe start with a list of things you want to do over the summer.  If you are traveling, keep lists and drawings of cities visited, animals seen or shells collected. 

List relatives you visit with and at a big family event, encourage kids to collect memories, quotes, pictures or stories from family members.  The format can be chronological like a journal or scrap book or maybe an ABC book format or "encyclopedia" of summer adventures. 

Look for books at the library featuring a character or series for ideas and inspiration.  A list or journal of books read over the summer is another possible topic.

Most of all, have fun with it and look for ways to spend time together on the project.  Maybe the scrapbook is a good motivation to print some of those digital photos that have been collecting on the computer. An older child might learn to use one of the photo book making web sites and will become motivated to create a book for friends and relatives as well. 

For the computer savvy, a digital journal or blog may be a good fit.  Whatever your format, have fun collecting memories while building important literacy skills and celebrating your family adventures this summer.