Journaling after story time is a great way to help reinforce main ideas and themes you and your child have just discussed together. And fear not: Journaling isn’t just for children who can write in complete sentences! Drawing pictures is a form of journaling, as well as having your child share thoughts out loud while your write them down.

Here are some great prompts to get your child’s journaling started:

• What is another way the story could have ended?
• Pick several of the new vocabulary words or phrases from the text. Use them in a new sentence or draw pictures that illustrate the new words’ meanings.
• How do you think [character] is like or not like you?
• What if the story continued past the ending? What do you think might happen the next day?
• Create another adventure for the characters.

 

Have you done this (or a similar activity) with your children? How did it go?