7 Benefits Of Journaling For Your child

Have you ever battled to remember an idea you had in the past or ever felt something that you can't share with others? How did it make you feel at that time? Do you crave a place to jot down your thoughts? 

That's exactly where journaling comes into play!

If you have gone through this, then your kids may too. 

Let's discuss how journaling can help your child overcome the same.

What is journaling?

Journaling is the act of very informal or ordinary writing that can be included in day-to-day practices. It satisfies different objectives, some personal, some creative, or even random. Many keep journals to record their thoughts and write several ideas as they arise in their mind. It is a  place for unshaped writing. You can write daily events, process troublesome incidents, keep to-do lists, etc. Journaling can be a great way to begin writing and invest in a process of self-awareness and self-improvement.

Check out: 7 Steps to Increase your Child's Communication Skills

Why should you encourage your child to do journaling?

Having a journal and writing daily life events and their feelings gives an excellent portal for kids to vent out things. Especially for those who have a hard time expressing their emotions verbally. Even if your kid is writing just a conversation or any discussions, putting it all into papers can give a clear view of how things are moving and how they should respond. Journaling gives your analytical creative right side of the brain to do wonders. Permitting your creativity to thrive and develop can be a fantastic way to bring big differences into your life. By taking the time to encourage writing journals, parents can provide children with an edge over others.

Let's straightly get into the benefits that journaling will offer: 

1. Provide a clearer perspective

Writing distressing circumstances help children to uncover new viewpoints. It encourages them to re-recite their stories and find out details that are on the bottom. Kids writing journals give them the power over their thoughts and responses and assure them that they are the only ones to create and define their stories. 

2. Enhance writing and communication skills

The skill to communicate through writing is required for a good performance in academics. Good written communication skills can prove in having a level of intellect. Journaling opens up the way for continuous practice for both writing and communication. Writing journals regularly creates fewer errors and brings out better quality.

3. Stimulates creativity

 Seeing solutions where others see troubles is a necessary skill. Journaling using storytelling methods helps bring out creativity. Provide your kid with a story plot that includes severe problematic things and tell them to come up with solutions. Get ready to be amazed! Yes, your child can bring out more than one solution which shows active imagination.

4. Encourage expressing thoughts meaningfully 

 When journaling, parents should always motivate children to express what they are feeling and be true to themselves. This assists them in understanding the reason behind their emotions and lets them rationalize their response towards it. It helps them in clearing out their mind to get to the point where they can think beyond feelings.

5. It's technology-free!! (What else do you need to convince yourself that journaling is good)

Social media platforms have offered a new way to express thoughts on the internet, while it is positive to some extent where people come to help each other, it's not private. Whereas journaling ensures that your child is focusing on themselves and not going with the solutions approved by others. Additionally, it is always relaxing to take time off from technology. 

6. Preserve memories

Writing a journal can be a great method to preserve memories. Sometimes it's fun and interesting to go back and look through some old pages. Old pages always tell stories and can make you laugh, giving a great time to your kid with themselves. That’s very valuable! It makes sense of our lives. 

7. Can reduce stress and help deal with mental health

Journaling works to enhance mental health through counselling children towards confronting restricted emotions. It helps in processing difficult situations and formulating better narratives about different experiences. Writing a journal makes it possible to give exposure to overwhelmed emotions repeatedly and makes it easy to deal with. It makes children more aware of their unhealthy thoughts and behaviour, making them understand what's right and wrong, influencing them to think positively. Ultimately, make children shift from a negative to a positive mindset. This helps in dealing with anxiety and depression too. It boosts mood and reinforces a sense of well-being. Another benefit of journaling is managing stress that could help your child as they grow through often difficult teen years into adulthood.

Remember, it’s never too early nor too late to gift your child a journal and let them start their journey.

Also read: How can an Active Imagination Help in a Child’s Development?