Commemorate your latest family vacation by helping your child create a travel journal in which he can preserve lifelong memories of the trip.
Avoid interjecting too much
There is nothing sweeter than seeing and reading your child’s own creations. Even basic stick drawings of a special moment during the trip can capture not only the essence of the memory but also the creativity of your child at that point in time. However, feel free to help your child get their travel journal started by introducing the concept of it with the creation of your own mock travel journal page (separate from her book).
Tell her your favorite part of the trip, write a few sentences about that memory, and include a drawing or a photo. Then encourage her to document her memories in a similar fashion or in any way she likes.
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Pick a memory
Your child can begin his travel journal the moment you set out for your destination. He can draw pictures of the airport or things he sees outside the car window, from buildings to cactus and anything in between. As you travel along point out landmarks, and come prepared with facts about them to help beef up your child’s memory book. Encourage him to not only draw the things he sees along the way but also what he thinks about them.
For example, “We drove through Arizona today. I saw more Saguaro cactuses than I have ever seen in my life. I think I would like to camp in the desert someday.”
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Get the right tools
A travel journal doesn’t have to be expensive or super-fancy. A simple spiral notebook or drawing pad is all you need. To make it fun for your child, buy new crayons or markers as well as theme travel/vacation stickers.
If your child is too young to write on his own, he can use stickers or simple drawings to create a memory, and you can help him fill in the blanks of the writing portion of the journal during a food break, when you reach your destination or when you get back home.
Include mementos
Hold onto tickets from the zoo or amusement parks you visit during your trip, or save a few flowers or leaves from a special garden and any other memento that your child wants to preserve from the vacation.
Save space in the journal to include photos from the journey as well. If your child is old enough to handle the camera on her own, let her take some snapshots from her own perspective to include in her journal.
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