When I lost my hard drive a few months back, it really got me thinking about other ways to preserve moments from our lives. In addition to having backups (which I did not), there should be more ways to record these fleeting periods of growing up. These DIY school year journals allow us to capture memories from the kids’ perspectives in addition to providing a fun place for kids to record their day.

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Capture those precious memories with these DIY school year journals. They are also the perfect easy way to connect with your kids daily after school! Click To Tweet

I always take a lot of photos but they are small snapshots that don’t tell the entire story. Even through scrapbooking, I’m only preserving my memory of the situation. That’s why we’re starting a new tradition this school year. These DIY school year journals capture the kids’ memories each year from their own perspectives.

In addition to the free printable journaling page, you can also store artwork, writing samples your kid is proud of, and anything else from the school ear your child thinks is important.

Grab the Free Undated School Year Journal Page

by Clicking on the Picture Below!

Materials

Soft Cover 1 inch 3-Ring Binder
Printable School Year Journal Sheet
Sticker Sheets
3-Hole Punch
(Optional) 3 Hole Punched Pocket Folders
Supplies for Labeling Journals (see step 2 below for details)

Step 1

First, print out multiple copies of the school year journal sheet. I recommend printing out at least 5 at a time so that you enough enough for an entire week.

Don’t Forget:

Subscribers can get a free 10 page school year journal with prompts. This includes prompted pages for the first 5 days of school as well as specialty pages for holiday breaks. Lastly, you’ll find the undated journal page included above on the last page to continue journaling the rest of the year. This is perfect for easing your kids into the process. Click here to sign up for the Newsletter now!

Step 2

Then label the journal with your child’s name and school grade/year. You can do this in a variety of ways. I tried 2 different techniques to give you some ideas:

Technique 1

For Brielle’s journal I used puff paint to add her name, grade level, and the year. With this method you will need to let the paint dry before moving on.

Technique 2

The second method is to use sticker embellishments to label the journal. I used this method for Jude’s journal and it also worked well.

Technique 3

Another alternative, which I did not use this time, is to use a permanent marker to label the journals. If you want to make it a little more whimsical, use a metallic Sharpie instead of a regular black one.

Step 3

Next, allow your kid to decorate the front of the journal with fun stickers.

Step 4

Now, punch holes in the printed journal sheets.

Step 5

Next, add the journal sheets to the binder. This is also the step to add folders to the binder if you want.

How to Use Your DIY School Year Journals

Each day, have your child fill out one page of the journal. The journal is a combination of writing and drawing to fit your kid’s creative style. You can help your non-writers by letting them dictate to you.

In addition to recording your kids’ school memories, these also help your kids improve their English and handwriting skills. These DIY school year journals are also a great way to connect with your kids after school beyond the “How was school?”-“Fine.” conversation.

These DIY school year journals will become a wonderful keepsake that you and your children can look back on throughout the years. They also provide a secondary form of memory-keeping that isn’t as fragile as an external hard drive full of photos.

It is always sweet to preserve your child’s memories as they are in this moment. The time goes too fast, these journals are the perfect way to preserve a small piece of them.

See where I’m linking up!