Daily gratitude journal for 5 year old

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happyselfjournal.com/cart

I like the look of this but am loathe to pay £20 for something that lasts 3 months. Is it worth it? I can see blank ones for much less, but I think for a young child the guidance of the Q&A format might be valuable.

5 year old children do not need a journal of any description.

Sounds awful.

This is unnecessary. Let kids be kids, he’ll learn and develop more by doing typical childhood stuff - go for walks in the woods, get muddy, make treehouses, play football, read books, drawing/painting, grow vegetables...

We do “typical childhood stuff”. I’m not sure what’s so terrible about a) reflecting on your day and b) practising handwriting.

I got this one for my 8yo - www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1911492632/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s02?psc=1&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&ie=UTF8

I would just be amazed if your child is remotely interested in doing it OP. Every child I’ve ever known at that age has zero interest in reflecting on anything. When asked what they have done/learned/talked about/eaten, they all say “I don’t know” or “can’t remember” and have far more interest in just having fun with their friends. It’s like trying to get blood from a stone.

But if your child wants to do it then it’s money well spent.

Sounds a bit try hard tbh. Get them a sticker book

What about a nice jar that she posts notes in of things she enjoyed?

CarrieBlu you might well be right, hence me not wanting to shell out £20. Eva that’s a nice idea. Thanks Swish, I thought those were blank but I see now that they’re not.

I remember asking my son every day at that age what he did at school. Same response every day - "had lunch".

5? Nope.

Is this necessary. Is this helpful.

My DDs and I each tell each other before bed one thing we did a good job on that day, one thing I need to work on, one thing we liked about ourselves that day and one thing we're grateful for. Much simpler way of reflecting and drives positivity (I hope) - they also see me acknowledging flaws or mistakes.

I agree that 5 is too young for this to be a meaningful let alone an enjoyable thing to do.

I’d like to think at 5 she can just enjoy life and have fun without having the burden of daily appreciation and gratitude being placed upon her little shoulders.

There was a documentary about children that have been doing all this gratefulness and mindfulness stuff and them growing up to be super sensitive adults and them struggling with relationships etc

Here’s a clip from it -

I sell DIY printable Gratitude Journal and kids versions in my etsy shop:

www.etsy.com/uk/listing/642906443/printable-worksheet-managing-emotions?ref=shop_home_active_34&pro=1

www.etsy.com/uk/listing/637055681/gratitude-journal-printable-a5-planner?ref=shop_home_feat_4&pro=1

I started for myself and found them really good for reflection. Also had teachers buying them for their students.

I'd get a cheap hardback notebook from the supermarket, plus some crafty bits, stickers etc, get the kid to decorate it themselves. Each day write in one good thing that happened. I wouldn't call it a 'gratitude journal' though.

We had something similar made ourselves OP

Nice notebook, lots of stickers.

I don’t like the name “gratitude journal” at all, it sounds very wanky. I can’t imagine me saying it in real life.

I think Tableclothing's idea is good either that or take them to pick a normal notebook with a cool cover

I used to look after a boy (7/8) who really benefited from this exact journal. He was a very anxious child and would easily spiral and this helped him massively. He liked that it could be private (rather than having the conversation with mum/dad). His five year old sister would not have been remotely interested though.

I used to buy an exercise book - top half plain and bottom half lined - for the summer for a 'summer diary' to keep writing up. So when DD was 5 she wrote 1 sentence and drew a picture. I covered the book in paper and we stuck stickers on it.

I agree a journal sounds wanky. However my DD asks my 5 year old GS 'what was your favourite and least favourite part of the day' each night as she's settling him for bed. He loves this and I now do it too. It's so interesting to get some insight into his world and what matters to him. ( it's usually only mundane stuff such as eating chocolate buttons but every now and again he divulged something of real significance.

My 5yrold loves stuff like this. She did emotional literacy sessions at school which started her interest. She can be very sensitive and struggle to communicate her feelings at times but since we have been doing these she has really started talking more about her feelings. We don't use a journal but rather free downloads which can be printed. We don't do it every day as sometimes we play other games and do stickers etc.