Activity
Make a Travel Journal
Putting together a travel journal for your family's next vacation is a great way to get your kids reading, writing, and thinking about what's happening and what they're learning on the trip. The possibilities for a travel journal are as endlessly varied as your kids' personalities and imaginations. Make a daily journal that describes what you did each day, a scientific notebook of plant and animal observations, an art journal of sketches, a map that records the sites seen, or a combination of all four.
What You Need:
- Empty notebook with unlined paper (try to avoid spiral bindings or perforated pages; a hardcover notebook with a sewn binding will hold up better during the trip)
- Writing utensils such as a pen, pencil, and an eraser
- Glue
- Paint, stickers, and other materials for decorating
- Flat souvenirs such as postcards (optional)
- Computer printout map of your trip route (optional)
What You Do:
- Before you leave home, encourage your child to personalize the outside of the notebook. They could write their name on the cover, as well as the dates and destination of the trip. Your child may also want to draw or paint a picture on the cover or add decorations like stickers.
- Create and print an online map of the route you'll be traveling, whether by car or by plane. Help them glue the map to the inside cover of the travel journal and invite them to refer to it during the journey.
- Throughout the trip, encourage your child to get out the travel journal and write in it. If they can't think of anything to write, give them a few ideas:
- Keep a daily journal, in words and pictures, of the events of the trip. This could include descriptions of the places you visit, the people you meet, and how they feel about them.
- Use the journal as a scrapbook, pasting postcards, brochures, and other items in it that your child picks up along the way.
- Record observations of nature. Your child could make a list of the birds and animals they see and write down questions about them so they'll remember to look up the answers when they get home. They can also make quick sketches of plants, animals, or the landscape.
- Write stories and poems inspired by the trip. If your child has trouble getting started, ask questions. What do they think it would be like to live in the place you're visiting? If the plants, animals, and objects along the route could talk, what might they say?
- Create a map that highlights the sites you have visited throughout the trip. Include a section about the details of each of the locations.
The possibilities are endless, but no matter what your child chooses to do with their travel journal, by the end they'll have a personal and inexpensive souvenir that will help them remember the trip for years to come.
Related Guided Lesson
Based on your interest in Make a Travel Journal.
Informational Text 3
3 online exercises
5 printable worksheets
Grade
Fourth grade
Subject
Reading and writing
Commas After an Introductory Phrase
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