Art Journals With Kids
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Today I invite you to join me in art journaling, sharing this creative experience with your kids to promote self-expression and communication.
I began to explore art journaling after realizing how much joy I find in creating. Before kids, I used my music and dance to channel my creativity.
Recently, I’ve been exploring art journaling to tap into the creative self. And, I’ve invited my kids along for the journey as well. (AJ is 9 and JJ is 6.)
Originally published: 12/6/11
Updated: 1/19/22
What is Art Journaling?
My definition of art journaling is simple:Â Art journaling is creating a journal with a combination of words and visuals, or mixed-media art. It’s communication and self-expression.
Beginnings of Art Journaling
While in the mountains, we used our blank books, colored pencils, Doodle Diary: Art Journaling for Girls, and wrote in our journals daily. Yes, I did this with the girls, too – a very important piece of getting kids to do anything!  Mostly, I introduced some new ideas I noticed in the Doodle Diary book like:
- borders
- lines
- swirls
This is the cover page AJ made after we played with making swirls.
Here’s a page about a play we saw on our trip.
Art Journal Journals and Kits
We used Art Journal Kits from Strathmore. You can buy a mixed media journal like the ones we used here. I LOVE how thick the pages are.
The Strathmore kit isn’t currently available but there are other art journaling kits for kids you can try.
Kid Made Modern Art Journal Kit
Pick a Medium (or Two)
Looking at the ideas in the kit, we started with two art ideas: watercolor and collage.Â
Then the girl painted a watercolor background on their pages.
After that, they added pictures and words. (Remember when I wrote about word collections? You can use words from your word collection jars!)
There is no right way to art journal. It’s all about creating and being creative.
Here’s a page from JJ’s journal using collage and watercolor.
As we continue on our art journal exploration, here are 4 art journal prompts you can also try to started!
Art Journal Books I’m Reading
Raw Art Journaling by Quinn McDonald
The Art Journal Workshop by Tracy Bunkers
Creative Journaling by Renee Day
Create Your Life Book by Tamara Laporte
KEEP READING
Beginning Art Journaling Guest Post
Beginning Drawing Ideas for Kids
Thanks for hosting this giveaway! 🙂 Sounds like an awesome idea!
Thank you so much for mentioning Daisy Yellow! My daughters, 9 and 12, are into art journaling too. They love that there are no rules and the idea of mixing all sorts of things on their pages!
I’m so excited that I just found your site! What a fantastic place for creativity and kids. I am an artist and love doing art of all kinds with my son.
My son would love this! He loves writing and art but has been cursed with the least creative/artistic mom in the world. What a great product for those of us with no clue where to begin!
My seven-year-old is extremely artistic and creative and does this kind of thing (art journaling) on loose pieces of paper and with whatever materials she can find. I’m sure she’d love this.
I’ve been a journaler all my life — but with words, not images. I love the idea of a pictoral scrapbook of my experiences…