Creating the Family Adventure Journal

The Concept

As a family, we make it a point to explore something new and intriguing wherever we go, often seeking out historical sites or unique points of interest that are off the beaten path. However, not everything captures our children’s attention equally. This inspired me to conceive a project: what if I created a story to accompany our adventures, bringing the experiences to life and sparking their imaginations? After all, much of the excitement lies in how an experience is presented. And so, our adventure stories were born, eventually evolving into a collection that we now proudly call our family adventure journal!

The Approach

Initially, I aimed to create several stories to get the kids excited about activities like nature walks or visits to places that aren’t centered around games and activities they usually gravitate toward. We crafted simple stories to highlight points of interest in a fun way, featuring talking creatures and a touch of innocent magic. These elements, familiar yet tailored to our real-world adventures, helped bridge the gap between the digital and natural worlds.

By focusing each story on an adventure, I began directing their attention to specific things, like the wonder of a natural feature or the significance of a historical event. To make these moments even more special, I included related materials. Initially, I worked in reverse, matching these materials to upcoming activities and adding Adventure Journal entries and artwork afterward. The plan is to prepare these stories in advance, creating a collection of potential adventures for them to explore as we embark on our next journeys.

Engagement and Follow Through

This project requires dedication, so I’m developing a background for the journal itself, ensuring a seamless transition from fictional characters to stories tailored to our family activities. I’m also finding ways to capture our children’s experiences in their own words as they grow, creating a cherished family keepsake that we can enjoy for years to come.

The Beginnings … 

It begins a little something like this…

• Start with a Journal that will last for some time, have space to expand and is something that you find aesthetically pleasing. Etsy has some great Handmade Journal options if you need some inspiration! Remember size does matter, smaller journals that are more for personal use may not work. Here is what we chose to use. The one shown below was purchased from reimaginedonline.

• Having already created the backstory, I can weave some of those elements into the initial pages, for this please visit our Adventure Journal Page.
• Create your first set of adventures but base them on fictional characters your children can relate to.
• Make the Journal into an Art project!

• Be sure to leave room for your kids to add their thoughts and experiences, whether this is a set of pages set aside for them, or have them write a short letter that you can insert into an envelope pasted inside the pages. (Note: if you are starting this with very young kids, you may have to complete this part until they can do it on their own, may be a fun way to capture your memories as well.)
• Share with your kids, and let them help you plan the next set of adventures that they will get to participate in.