Here's some I've posted before:

A?couple of ideas:

List journaling -
Have the girls create a list of something.? So, it could be the items in their
purse, last ten songs loaded on their IPOD, five favorite stores at the mall,
etc.? It's a lot less pressure to write a list.

Scrapbook
A scrapbook can definitely be a journal (as long as they write something).? I
once did an activity where I took the girls to various places in town and took
pictures (high school stadium, elementary school).? You could follow up the
next week by writing why the place had meaning.? I still have the pictures and
it's amazing how much things change over time.? I wish I had pictures from the
back of my neighborhood when it used to be a field.? Now it's houses as far as
I can see and it's hard to explain to people who just moved here.

Audio/Video
A journal can be more than just written pages.? Try recording something.

10-minute Journaling
Set a timer for ten minutes and go.? Again, it's less pressure if you only have
to write for a certain amount of time.

Any of These Ideas

One of my favorites for journaling.? Any of these can be done for a ten or
twenty minute session.? You can also have the girls write notes to each other
in their journals.

Jon B. Fish, It's More Than a Journal, Ensign, Dec. 1983, 62

I've enjoyed keeping a detailed journal for about ten years now. In doing so,
I've learned that you can have a lot of fun if you express your own
personality in it.

I purchase large journals so I can add things like pictures, newspaper
clippings, obituaries, and graduation announcements without making the book too
bulky. My journal is much more than a scrapbook, however. It contains thoughts
and feelings as well as details of events and activities.

As I start each new year in my journal, I include several items:

1. I sign my name so posterity can see how I wrote it.

2. I make a photocopy of my current temple recommend, library card, company
identification card, and driver's license- all on the same page.


3. I trace my left hand (because it has my wedding band on it), and my right
shoe (I think I'm right-footed). It's been fun to go back and look at the
outline of old sneakers or boots I've worn over the years.

4. I glue onto a page recent school pictures or snapshots of each family member.

5. I include an updated version of our ever-changing family group sheet.

6. I write down what I would like included in my obituary and funeral program.
This might sound like a gruesome task, but it's really quite fun - and I'm
sure it would make my family's decisions a lot easier if they happened to need
it during the year. My wife, Shauna, knows where to find it.

7. I review my old journal for a few minutes, select the top ten events from the
past year, and summarize them in my new journal. Some of my past Top 10s have
been births, my mother's cancer surgery and recovery, the death of a close
friend, a unique experience, a new church calling, a hole-in-one on the golf
course, a miracle, a special talk with one of the kids which changed both our
lives, a trip, a daddy-daughter date.

8. I write a two-or-three-paragraph synopsis of the past year for my personal
history.

9. I list a couple of goals that I want to achieve in the coming year, and I
review my goals from the past year to see how well I did.

10. I write down my testimony, addressed to my wife and children, making certain
that it includes my love for them, for the Savior, and for the gospel. (My
father died before I turned eight. We had eagerly been awaiting my baptism. How
I would love a handwritten copy of his testimony.) It's a wonderful experience
to go back ten years and see how my testimony has grown.

I've learned that it's important to write in my journal daily so I don't
forget how I feel and can include my thoughts as well as the bare facts.
Sometimes I've slipped out of bed fifteen minutes earlier, or stayed up
fifteen minutes extra at night. Now I write during my lunch hour.

Have fun keeping your journal! Adding personal items and details like these can
make it come alive for you and will be splendid reading for later generations.

And don't wait until the new year to get started!Jon B. Fish, Peoa, Utah




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