How I Got My Kids Excited About Journaling with RPGs
As a writing teacher and homeschool mom, I am always looking for ways to make writing more fun and, sneakily, feel less like school work.
This year, I think I finally cracked the code on journaling!
We have written in journals daily ever since our first day of homeschool, but my kids never loved it. I tried writing prompts, letting them write whatever they wanted... nothing worked. That is, until I found solo RPG journals.
I came across this idea as a fun game for adults, and immediately thought it would be SO cool for our daily journals. For each of my kids (ages 6–11), I made a solo RPG journal. In a typical RPG game, you roll a die to find out what you're facing and then use your imagination to play through the scenario. It's the same idea with these journals!
I 3D printed each kid a 20-sided die, and they roll twice a day to get their "prompt." Then they write about it, add stickers and drawings, and keep track of their progress.
For example, my first grade daughter is doing "The Lost Critter Rescue Club." Every day she rolls to find out what animal she needs to rescue and where it is. She can also roll again if she gets stuck, and it tells her what the animal needs.
Today she rolled: "baby dragon", in a "unicorn pasture", and "he lost his sparkle".
She tells me what she wants to write, then she copies it from the whiteboard and decorates her page. She colors in a heart for every animal she rescues, so I've set hers up to hopefully last 100 days.
My older kids journals get slightly more complicated as they can "level up" (by doing things like writing more sentences, drawing a picture, solving the problem in a creative way, etc.) and unlock new items they can use.
On the first day, they also get to create their character, which they thought was SO fun. I gave them each a pack of stickers that match their theme, and they get to choose 2 each day for their journal page. You could also print things for them to cut out and glue in.
Basically, think of it more like a scrapbook than a traditional journal.
I am telling you, my kids have never written so much and so happily! And their journals are turning out ADORABLE. These are going to be such fun keepsakes.
Truly, the only problem has been that they want to spend about an hour a day on them. (I'm not going to complain if we spend all our time writing!)
I know this is probably more elaborate than what some families are looking for, but it has been such a hit that I just had to share. And it's completely customizable to whatever your kids are currently in to!
Want to try out these journals for yourself?
Want more ideas for getting kids excited about writing?
Download my free Creative Writing Workbook to see more about how I teach and what we do at Storytellers Studio.
Storytellers Studio
anndee@storytellersstudio.net
Questions? Use the form below to send us a message: