Ideas for your Kid Stuff Journal

Here we’ve included some suggestions about how get the most out of your Leaf Kid Stuff Journal, so our headings are the same as those in our journal. Use them if you like. Ignore them if you prefer. Feel free to draw, paste in photos (leaves, tickets etc) or decorate with stickers. A journal does not have to be just in writing. That’s why there are lots of blank pages in our journals. Sometimes writing is not the best way to express your thoughts and ideas. A picture is worth a thousand words.

Remember, it’s YOUR journal for YOUR stuff.

Discover

• Write Top 10 lists – movies, books, songs, bands, people, TV shows, holidays.
• Make a list of your favourite things – food, colour, ice cream, teacher, shoes, shop, team, car and so on. Use your imagination to come up with more ideas. If you want, you can even say why they’re your favourites.
• What can’t you live without – the old classic, “what 3 things you would take to a desert island” sort of thing.
• What would your super power be? Why?
• What star sign are you? Do you know what traits you are supposed to have under that star sign? Do they apply to you?
• What does your name mean? Does it suit your personality?

Share

• Write down your answers on the Friend pages, and then ask your friends for their thoughts. See if you come up with the same answers.
• Don’t forget to include your family, including grandparents and extended family if you are really close.
• Teachers can be very important in your life. If you have a special teacher you love, include them in your journal.
• Sometimes someone you dislike will have a big effect on your life. It might be worth including them too. Who knows, one day you may become friends.
• To add photos, you could try printing out on your inkjet printer onto sticker paper. Some of these are specially coated for inkjet printers. Then just cut out and stick on.

Remember

• Remember a time when you were really happy, excited, sad, disappointed. Write about how you felt, and why.
• Can you remember going on a big adventure? It may have been a holiday, an excursion or even your first trip on a train. Tell the tale as an action adventure story.
• Who was your best friend when you were 5? What can you remember about them?
• What was your favourite story when you were little – the one you insisted on having read to you over and over again? Do you still have the book? What did you love most about it?
• Think about something special to you that you have lost. Did you find it again? What did you do to try to get it back again?

Create

• Fill in the checklist in your journal to work out what creative talents you might have. Then explore the kinds of jobs that could use these talents. Be creative! (There are more jobs out there than you could ever imagine – and some that don’t even exist yet…)
• Think about what you loved to do when you were little. Are these things you still do now?
• What do you do when you are bored (text, draw, daydream etc)? Are these things you really enjoy? If so, how can you do them more often (just not in class, OK)?
• What have you invented? It could be a machine, an idea, another world, fabulous clothes. Use your journal for the design and development of your invention.
• Sit down in your favourite place for ½ hour and draw or write whatever comes into your head. Don’t edit it, just let it flow…
• Paste in photos of things that inspire your creativity. These could be a special place, interesting things that you have found, favourite toys, books, games or music, or certain people.

Dream

• Look again at the checklist of things you love to do and your list of words that describe you. How do these fit in with your wildest dreams?
• If you had a million dollars, what would you do?
• Write a list of all the places in the world you would love to visit.
• Imagine you were the winner of a major award in your chosen field – e.g. an Academy Award, a Nobel Prize, the World Cup? Write your acceptance speech.
• Design your dream home.
• Make a list of the things you need to do to make your dreams come true, such as courses or training you will need to undertake, competitions you will need to participate in, special skills required and people who can help you. Include a timeline.