CLICK HERE FOR FREE BLOGGER TEMPLATES, LINK BUTTONS AND MORE! »

Monday 8 February 2010

Our first Journaling Jar!






Is it really Monday evening already?! I think I must have blinked and missed the week-end, lol!

Well, my lovely kids seemed to spend most of the week-end fighting over this and that, ah, don't you just love em!
So, in an attempt to get them away from the Wii and all things technical, I took them out for a big long walk in the woods, there's nothing like a long brisk walk to clear away the cobwebs.

On our return, I thought it would be a nice idea to do something crafty, and thought perhaps a journaling jar would be great fun!
My youngest is not really ready for this yet (but don't worry, we'll do something else for him :) but my older child is, and thought it was a great idea.

So, after a bit of googling, I found this great site with lots of journaling prompts for kids, it's designed to get them writing and capturing their memories in a fun way, and it's all free!!!!

All you do is....
print the prompts, cut them into strips, fold, and pop them into a jar. Each day you pick out a random prompt from the jar, stick it inside your journal and write your answer.

We used an old Yankee candle jar( yum! my faves!) scrubbed it out and decorated with handmade tags and string, we also put his inital on each of the tags, just to personalise it. Then covered a plain journal with lots lovely paper, handmade tags and lots of die cuts made with our fabby cuttlebug, mod podged the lot, and hey presto!


Here's the link if you'd like to try it, why not give it a go, it's great fun for your kids, and there's a section with adult prompts too! It's a great way to capture your memories, and looks cute too :)

http://christmas.organizedhome.com/printable/child-journal-jar

Happy Crafting XXXXX :)

9 comments:

tea_bag said...

What a fab idear Suzie I love the yankee candle jar I might have to make one of these for my grandson to do when he comes here then he has something he can do and I get to keep a wonderful book all about him:) love it

SusieJ said...

Fabulous idea Suzie. Sounds like fun!
Sue xx

Cathy said...

Suzie - I LOVE THIS IDEA AND I AM STEALING IT IMMEDIATELY!!!! Wow - it is gorgeous. I am actually thinking of it for two ideas

1. have new childminder starting tomorrow and if you could have seen how my 4 year old "tested" her last week you would have felt pity on the poor childminder. So was trying to come up with a cunning plan to keep her motivated to be good! Was thinking naughty step (but she loves it and does not see it as punishment), reward chart (she thinks its a joke) - now I am thinking cute jar I can put loads of rewards in and when she is good for childminder she gets to pick one - what do you reckon?

2. Secondly thinking I would love to do this myself for one of my art projects to prompt a drawing or painting

I will let you know how I get on with them!

I am sure your kids just love it and will have great fun with it.

Thanks for inspiring me on a Monday evening - you are the best!

Cathy xxx

P.s Love Yankee candles...yummy...

SueB said...

Hi Cathy!

I think that's a great idea! My youngest is five so not really ready for this yet, but like you say, you could change it in what ever way suits.
I bought him the same sized journal today, and thought perhaps we could pop little things inside the jar as prompts such as a car, bus, leaves from the garden or something like that or even write them out as the prompts, and he could then do a drawing of whatever he picks from his jar into his journal book.
He could also practise letters and words and get to decorate each page with stickers as a reward.
Your idea for your childmider is brilliant, perhaps lots of colourful stickers would help. Maybe for your little girls prompts you could put things you would like her to do, such as being good for the childminder and so on. Then perhaps she could draw a little picture in her journal and get a stickers or so as a reward.
It would be wonderful to know if this helps you Cathy, I'll keep my fingers and toes crossed!

Also really like the idea of your art projects prompts, fab!!!

I want to do one for myself, but think I may have to invest in a few more yankee candles first, any excuse hey? lol!

I also thought it would be fun to make some prompts for all those things I'm forever putting off (and somehow never do!) such as things that need doing round the house, paperwork, things that may need fixing and so on.
It might just be a more entertaining way of getting those grotting things done, lol!

Good luck with it all Cathy, please let me know how it all goes, good luck!

Thanks for all your lovely comments and to Alma and Susie too :)

Big hugs to you all!
Suzie xxxxx :)

sue-bubbles said...

Oh WOW Suzie, what a fabulous idea and just so brilliant to do with the kids! My wee ones are too huge and distant to play with now, so I might have to do one of my own....I feel another tag book coming on lol! Thank you for the inspiration Suzie - wonderful!
Sue x

tartantaz said...

What a fantastic idea, and your jar looks amazing. I think you have just started the new dc girls craze lol

T x

Valerie-Jael said...

Lovely idea!

Hi it's Maria said...

oh what a lovely idea suzie and what a great way of encouraging your son to write, well done...

and as for yankee candles, (yummy smell), I love the double wick ones as they burn more even and yes you need some more, lol...

maria x

Felicia said...

Hi Suzie, how are you?? this is such a cool project, i think i'll make one for my family - even if they're at the teenage "what a waste of time stage"! Maybe i'll make one for me and it might save my sanity!
lots of love x