Draven Jackson
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With summer starting, it’s important to keep your children’s minds active and creative. Writing prompts can be a great opportunity to keep them active in a fun and exciting way. Thoughtful journaling ideas will give them the chance to think more deeply about important questions and write about their answers.

Journaling can also be a fun family exercise. You’re never too old to answer these thought-provoking questions, so make sure to encourage your kids by showing them that writing can be fun for all ages.

What do you think is the most important trait for a person to have?

One of the best journaling ideas for introspection, have your child take some time to write about what they think the most important trait in a person is. Do they value kindness and generosity? Do they believe a hard worker is the most important thing a person can be? Does your child believe that being honest and fair is what makes a good person?

While it’s a broad question and can be difficult to answer, it can also help them create a standard for the people they want in their lives. If they believe that kindness is the most important trait a person can have, they will look to surround themselves with kind people or become one themselves.

Make sure to write your own answer to this question and take time to discuss your answer with your children!

Where do you imagine you’re going to live ten years from now?

Fun journaling ideas can lead to broad, creative thinking. For this question, have your child consider where they want to live when they grow up. The answer doesn’t have to be realistic or logical – if they want to build a house on the moon or live in a submarine at the bottom of the ocean, these are great answers!

Let them write freely about what their “dream home” would look like and have them consider why they want to live there. Do they want to go to Japan so they can visit Tokyo and eat delicious foods? Or maybe they want a big house with a large yard so they can have a lot of dogs! The more creative and well-thought-out the answer, the better!

What will your dream job look like?

Journaling ideas are about thinking introspectively, but they are also about creating and establishing life goals (even if these goals may change). For this prompt, your child should think about their “dream job”: if they could do anything they wanted to, what would it be and why?

Make sure that they don’t only answer what kind of job they would like, but also have them discuss what their daily life at that job would look like. If they want to be a teacher, what kinds of subjects would they teach and how would they interact with their students? For children who want to be musicians, what kind of music would they play and where would they like to perform?

You can also answer this question and discuss your own “dream job”! It might be fun to think about what kind of job you wanted at your child’s age and what you would have done.

What do you think is the best thing about you?

While some journaling ideas help you consider who you could be in the future, others give you the chance to think about who you are now. It’s important to take some time to think about ourselves positively and talk about what we like about ourselves. For this question, have your child think about themselves and write about the best thing about them.

Do they like their eyes, fingers, or feet? Can they run really fast and beat all the other kids in races? Are they really good at math, science, or reading? Give your child time to consider what they think is the best thing about them and why, and have them write it down so they can go back and read it on days where they may not have the most confidence.

Self-love and taking the time to affirm your appreciation for yourself are important for any and every age group.

If you could describe yourself as a color, what color would you be and why?

Another one of my favorite fun and creative journaling ideas, this is an opportunity to have your child think about themselves as a color and describe why they would be that color. While it may sound a little silly, this prompt promotes both creativity and self-reflection.

For example, if I were a color, I think I would be yellow. Not only is it my favorite color, but I think it embodies the things I value in a person and hope to emanate myself: happiness, warmth, and comfort. While others may see my color differently, yellow is how I would describe myself.

How would you and your child describe yourself as a color? Why do you think you’d be that color and what does that color mean to you?

If you won the lottery, how would you spend your money to help someone else?

Journaling Ideas should also be an opportunity for self-improvement. While this can be a hard concept for young minds to understand since they are still developing a sense of self, it’s never too early to begin thinking about what makes someone a good person and how we can strive to be better people.

One way to have your child consider these ideas is to ask them how they would help someone else. If they won the lottery and were suddenly given millions of dollars, how would they use that money to help someone else? How would they bring more good into the world with their new luck?

You can also take the opportunity to write about this prompt and give your child your own ideas on how to help others when they find themselves with more than they may need.

Do you have other thoughtful journaling ideas for young writers? Tell us in the comments!

About Draven Jackson

Draven is an avid writer and reader who enjoys sharing her opinions on movies, books, and music with the rest of the world. She will soon be working as a teacher in Japan and hopes to use her experience to connect with other teachers and students around the globe. Draven spends most of her time at home with her family, her dogs, and her ferret.

To see more, view all posts by Draven Jackson here.