On my bookshelf are some three-prong pocket folders that hold many memories. They are trip journals that my daughters created during a family vacation years ago. It took me about fifteen minutes to put them together and they cost about fifty cents each, but what they became is priceless.
Trip journals are a great way to incorporate “school work” into everyday life. The journals that we created combined geography, handwriting, composition, nature study, art, and math. Here’s how.
Grab a three-prong pocket folder for each child. Make some section title pages as outlined below and assemble the trip journals. Gather some colored pencils and you’re ready to go.
- The Route We Took
In this section of the journal put a highway map of each state or province you will be traveling through. The kids can trace your route as you make your way down the roads.
- Neighbors We Saw
Put a full country map in this section so the kids can locate and color in the states or provinces as they see those “neighbors’ ” license plates on the highways.
- My Trip Journal
This section simply houses a lot of notebook paper and maybe some plain copy paper too. As you go through the day, encourage your child to write down what he observes and does along the trip. You may want to give him time to write as you make various stops along the way, or you might just want him to enter a day’s summary each evening. The plain paper can be used for sketching. Your child might sketch flowers or trees he discovers, or he might want to draw a landmark or building that interests him. Try to make sure he puts the date and location on each entry or sketch to help prompt his memory later. You can also use the pockets in the folders to hold ticket stubs, brochures, postcards, and other memorabilia.
- My Trip Budget
Older children can have a section in their trip journals that helps them track their spending. Just insert a few simple ledger sheets on which your child can keep track of his starting balance, purchases along the way, and a running balance. If your child isn’t old enough to track his spending, just leave this section out.
- The Trip in Pictures
Put plain copy paper in this section and be sure to take along a digital camera. Take a lot of photos on the trip, then when you get home, let the child select which ones he wants to include in his trip journal. He can add captions or short descriptions under the photos as he adds them to this section.
We gave each of the older children a trip journal and allowed them to create their own covers. If your child doesn’t put it on the cover, you might want to insert a title page at the front of the journal that tells who is going on the trip, the destination, and the dates.
Our youngest at the time was still in the scribble stage, so her trip journal was full of just plain copy paper. She could scribble all she wanted. We also gave her a package of those inexpensive star stickers (the kind that are shiny foil and come about 1,000 to a package). She could make designs with those stickers all over the pages of her journal during the trip, and we could still add photos in the back, just like all the other children, after we arrived home.
Trip journals can be as elaborate or as simple as you want them to be. You can use fancy paper and your computer printer to create the section title pages, or you can use copy paper and a felt-tip marker; it’s up to you. You can use the sections as outlined above or you can make up some of your own; it’s your call. However you make them, trip journals can be great fun and a great way to encourage practical “school” skills. Give them a try on your next trip.
If you would like to save a few minutes, you can download ready-made title and section pages for your trip journal on our sister site, Simply Charlotte Mason.
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