There is no denying that journaling is a healthy and beneficial activity. While it helps adults record significant events, set goals, and relieve stress, it also helps kids document their feelings and improve their writing skills. In fact, many parents and teachers consider journaling a valuable tool for kids to learn and improve their academic skills.
It is a versatile activity that not only makes writing fun but also provides a platform for kids to work out their problems, share, and draw out thoughts. That is why many parents try their best to encourage children to develop the habit of journaling at a young age.
Here we have outlined some benefits of journaling to help you understand how it can groom you and your children.
How Journaling Benefits your Children
· Helps Deal with Complex Feelings
Who doesn’t feel better after sharing his/her thoughts and ideas with a non-judgmental confidant?
Journaling, in this regard, is one of those safe places where you can express anything you want without the fear of being judged. Many people vent out their frustration and confusion in their private journals. Children, particularly teenagers, have lots of stirring emotions. At teens, everything feels exciting and new.
Moreover, there are things that they don’t feel comfortable sharing with their parents. Hence, a private journal is a safe place to write down complex emotions and brewing feelings. Many children feel relaxed and better after putting those distressing feelings and thoughts into words. Typically, journaling helps a child process emotions and feelings. Journaling can provide an opportunity to:
- Explore emotions
- Express fear
- Feel anger
- Plan out conversations with parents or friends
- Gain insight into people’s motives
Strengthens Communication Skills
As mentioned above, journaling can help your child communicate ideas via writing. Expressing feelings through writing is easier for some kids. And nurturing written communication skills can be an asset for your child as he/she grows and moves forward. Also, children can learn to use the right vocabulary to communicate their feelings and thoughts.
· Stimulates Creativity
When you do journaling in a storytelling form, it helps stimulate your creativity. It allows you to think of multiple solutions to a problem. It works the same way with the children and triggers their imagination that helps them solve the problem. Hence, journaling helps children explore and polish their creativity and teaches them to think outside the box.
· Improves Writing Skills
Improved writing skills is one of the most important benefits all journalers, especially children, reap from journaling. The regular or weekly writing exercise allows children to practice sentence structure, improve grammar and spelling, and be creative. When children start journaling, they have a choice to write content in their own way. This choice and control make writing a fun and appealing activity.
Bottom Line
In a nutshell, whether you are an adult or a teenager, journaling presents lots of emotional and academic growth opportunities. The open-ended form of writing is reflective and enjoyable and allows people to look carefully at their thoughts. Also, it improves creative thinking and helps children assess the positive and negative aspects of the situations.