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What is it that girls’ dolls and boys’ figurines have in common? Admittedly they both have heads, arms and legs, and look vaguely but not entirely human. Girls’ dolls tend to be about a foot in height at least, whereas most boys’ figurines are around six inches tall. There doesn’t appear to be any particular reason for this height discrepancy apart from the physical requirements that girls’ dolls have, in that they tend to wee, whereas boys’ toys tend to carry guns, which can be made in miniature as they tend not to work, requiring the boy in question to supply the necessary sound effects and explosive consequences.

The answer is that they both help children to develop their role playing experiences and opportunities, and as such, are a hugely valuable toy in developing children’s awareness of themselves as individuals and the makeup of the world around them. Children need to practice role play, and are doing so almost the whole time, whether you are aware of it or not. Their mimicry of you as an adult is a form of role play, their use of dolls or figurines to act out situations, conflicts, opportunities or groups is also a valuable role play exercise.

It is often in opportunities such as these that children have the freedom to try out new ways of approaching situations, see things from the other person’s perspective and understand that the other person even has a perspective at all. Children, and adults, usually learn better by doing, rather than merely observing. Having said that, children are excellent observers. Once they observe a situation, whether in real life, on television or in a book, children take on board the ideas, the characters and the conflicts, and mull them over in their heads. They will quite happily dress up as their favorite characters and prance about with a colander on their head, a pair of shorts draped over their shoulders and a wooden spoon in their hand, bravely taking on the might of the linen bin monster who is lurking at the top of the stairs.

But these games should not be dismissed as merely childish. To the child, everything is very much more real than we adults can appreciate, and children often learn valuable ideas in such situations as these - especially when they are playing in a group. Sets of figurines, in particular, lend themselves very well to group play, and if they are based on a particular television show or book, then all the better.

It is when children play in a group at role play that people’s roles are discussed and defined, and the rules laid down. Whether this is as themselves as the characters, or with their dolls or figurines, they will have a firm understanding of their roles, and the rules, before the game begins. Teams are formed, strategies devised, conquests achieved and lessons learnt. They don’t realize it, of course, and the moment you congratulate them all on such a fine educational learning experience they’ll probably sell their dolls and figurines and take up macrame instead.

Victor Epand is an expert consultant about kids toys, dolls, and video games. You will find the best marketplace for kids toys, dolls, and video games at these sites: http://www.4kidstoys.info , http://www.dollsgamestoys.info , and http://www.usedvideogamesell.com .

Confident kids are safer kids. It’s common sense and no special safety secret. Kids who are confident are naturally less of a target for predators and criminals, even the bullies at school.

Confidence belies and underlying, subconscious message that says, “I’m not easy. I’m not going down.” Confidence takes care of thwarting the majority of potential threats from other people your child can face.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of kids today that are not confident. They shrink from contact with adults. They bow their heads and look at their feet when they talk with others. They feel just a little less important than other kids and they fail to make eye contact with even the smallest of other children.

If your young child is not very confident, then teach then to pretend they are confident. Yes, this is a very sensitive issue with most parents. No one wants to admit their child lacks self-esteem. In doing so one admits they have not built it into their child from birth. Who wants that kind of responsibility or admittance of failure?

However, you need to make a difficult assessment. Again, if your child is not confident, then teach them to pretend they are. Teach it as a game. Call it the “Feel Good Feel Bad” game.

Ask them if they want to play a game. Get excited, get their attention. Play it with them. Have your child walk around the room and at the command of “Feel Bad!” have them hang their heads, shuffle around and moan. Actually ask them to go back to a time when they might have been sick or sad, and remember what that feels like in their bodies. In doing so, we can actually begin to see some of the
children sagging in their posture.

After a few minutes of this ask them to remember a time when they were really, really happy and excited. Perhaps it was their birthday. Perhaps it was Christmas Day, opening presents. Whatever it is, we take them there in their minds for a brief few moments and have them bounce around feeling happy. You can see them physically straightening up as they envision their happy, exciting moments.

Through a series of “Feel Bad!” and “Feel Good!” commands you expose them to the way these two states feel and the bodily sensations that each of them create. You want them to be able to differentiate between physically feeling good and feeling bad.

More importantly, when you see they understand the difference, you can then teach them to pretend they can “Feel Good” even when they don’t. What you are really doing is getting them to turn feeling good on whenever they want to do it.

This means they can at least project confidence even though they may not feel that way for any number of reasons. You can now get them to “Feel Good” and appear so (meaning appearing more confident) especially when they are outside or alone.

If you can get your child to appear confident even when they don’t feel that way they become less of a target for predators. Kids can learn to fake out predators with these simple games. They give a child an extra edge of safety whenever they may find themselves alone without Mom or Dad.

It is also possible that if your child can begin to feel good when they need to or want to, they tend to like how it feels. They slowly begin to gravitate more and more to those good feelings we show them. It means they can really take hold if parents reinforce these ideas at home.

Joyce Jackson is a child safety expert, #1 bestselling author, consultant, speaker and trainer. For her extensive website and information see http://www.KeepingKidsSafeToday.com.

Your child has two brains. Yes, as a parent you may feel they may not even have one. However, we do think, despite the scientific evidence, that kids, all of us for that matter, have two brains.

There is one in their head and one in their belly. We call the one in the belly the Belly Brain. It’s the one brain in their belly, the Belly Brain, that in safety, is the more important of the two.

Why should you care about a Belly Brain? Simple. It is the one thing you and your child can count on in their ability to keep themselves safe. At some point in their life, your child is going out somewhere with out you. School. The end of the yard. The Park. Soccer practice. The Mall as a teenager.

At some point in their life your child will be out without you and will need to be able to take care of themselves against any danger. In safety, we think kids can learn to sense danger as it is developing and get away from it. Sometimes they’ll even be able to see it and avoid it. It’s called prevention.

It can be any type of childhood threat such as bullies at school, a car slowing as it goes up and down the street, being near a neighbor or close family friend or being in a room one on one with another adult.

When something inappropriate or threatening develops we want your child’s natural instincts, which we simply bring awareness to and build upon, to go off. We want them to find a trusted adult, parent or family member and get help. We want them to act confidently, assuredly and quickly.

Thus, the Belly Brain. You need it because your child needs it. It is the first line of defense, prevention, in their ability to keep themselves safe. Frankly, it’s the name that is unique: Belly Brain.

You’ve got two, we have two, your child has two. Yes, there is the tangible anatomical brain in our head. That’s one. Then there is the brain in our stomach. It’s what we call our natural instincts, intuition, our visceral feeling, that gut reaction about people, places and things.

Our society and culture, as we grow, does it’s best to negate this instinct and get us to “think” instead of following natural instincts. We quietly and very efficiently learn to ignore our intuition.

Why do you think there is such a proliferation of self help groups and “back to nature” and rediscovering our true self programs for adults? They all have one thing in common: getting back to listening to what is truly inside ourselves.

Kids have this intuition. They just need to learn to pay attention to it. When children are young and are taught to listen to that little voice inside that is always there to protect them, they can use it effectively in keeping themselves safe.

Joyce Jackson is a child safety expert, #1 bestseling author, consultant speaker and trainer. For more on the Belly Brain of Safety see http://www.MyBellyBrain.com

If you have children, you most likely have a few toys in the form of stuffed animals lying around in the playroom or the bedroom of your children or in any other parts of your home. Stuffed animals are usually made of some kind of fabric material. Fabric materials all attract dust so if you, your children, or other family members have allergies, than the stuffed animals can be a potential danger to you.

Now, stuffed animals are great toys and companions for children. However, if they are the cause of health-related problems, than this can become a bit of a problem. Children get attached to their toys, especially the stuffed animals. You, as a parent, would very likely want to keep your child happy and healthy at the same time, right? Well, than the solution to this dilemma is to keep the stuffed animals in your home as clean as possible. Here are a few tips that we can offer about keeping your plush toys and stuffed animals clean.

A Clean House Helps Out

This is the most obvious tip that you, as a parent, probably already know. If you regularly clean your house thoroughly, you will in effect be reducing the amount of dust and allergens inside of your house. Now, since the stuffed animals and other plush toys are kept inside your house, you will reduce the dust and allergens that are transferred to these objects because the environment that it is kept in is cleaner.

This first tip is a common sense one. A cleaner house will keep the dust from building up as fast on the stuffed animals that your child has in your home.

Storing The Stuffed Animals

If you would like added protection from dust and allergens getting on the stuffed animals, perhaps you would do well to consider storing the items in an air tight container whenever your child has no need for the stuffed animals or whenever he or she is not playing with it.

Containers that are air tight will provide the best protection for the items that are stored in it. Air tight containers will not only protect the stuffed animals from dust and allergens while it is kept in the container, but it will also protect it from other elements such as water and other liquids.

So, here are two simple tips we offer you on keeping stuffed animals clean. A clean house and air tight containers will be a great deal of help when you are trying to keep the plush toys clean.

If you are looking for the perfect stuffed animal for your child, you can visit Funkee Monkee dot net. Funkee Monkee is a site that Jay authors featuring great stuffed animals. You can visit this site at http://funkeemonkee.net.

This morning after my children left for school, I walked into the bathroom and saw clothes all over the floor. Needless to say I was not impressed. Rebekah had forgotten (yet again) to pick up her clothes after having had a shower. I thought about picking them up for her, then decided that I would leave them for her to pick up later that day.

I started thinking about how I was going to fix this problem. After all, Becky always left her clothes in the middle of the bathroom floor. It seemed like no matter how many times I told her she would still just not hear me.

Anyhow, I wandered to her bedroom and opened the door and guess what I saw? There was a beautifully made bed with no creases or wrinkles in the blankets, the pillow was straight and perfectly arranged, there were dolls loned up on the pillow case in a neat fashion and there was absolutely nothing on the floor that shouldn’t have been there. The toy boxes were neatly lined up in the corner. I couldn’t fault a thing.

So I made a decision there and then. When Becky came home from school, instead of concentrating on the one thing she didn’t do right, I was going to compliment her on the other hundred or so things that she had done very right that morning. Do you see what I am getting at here? What do you think is going to have the best response from my daughter? Nagging about the one group of things she didn’t put away or complimenting her on the many other things she did do right this morning?

Becky is still at school but I can tell you what the response will be already. I bet you that by bed time tonight she will have found her pile of clothes in the bathroom and picked them up without any prompting from me. You see, this is the way kids work. You compliment them and they will look for more ways to be extra helpful. Test it and see. You’ll be amazed at how much you can accomplish simply by choosing to ignore little things in order to praise the outstanding achievements.

So, the next time you see something that your child hasn’t done and get annoyed about it, try thinking a little differently. Just see if you can instead find something to compliment them on and it might just make the world of difference. Just a thought. It works for me.

Kim Patrick is a single mother with four children, living on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia. She is author of the book, “Get Your Child To Behave In 30 Days Or Less”. Her web site is:
http://www.mychildcanbehave.com

One of the longest surviving toys ever created is the crayon, and Crayola just about seem to own this market. Every single year they create over 2 billion crayons. Apparently every child, on average, will work his or her way through about 780 of these crayons by the time they are ten, and every child between the ages of two and eight spends about 28 minutes every single day colouring using these crayons. I’m not sure how the people who work out these statistics manage to arrive at these figures. How exactly the statistic can be ‘about’ 28 minutes I’m not sure. Surely that’s ‘about’ half an hour - wouldn’t that make more sense? Or perhaps having such a specific figure makes it sound more believable. In any case, it does mean that we get through a huge amount of crayons.

Let’s imagine for a minute that we deprived every single child in the world of their crayons, and stole every single crayon that Crayola produced for an entire year. That puts us in possession of two billion crayons by the end of the year. Now, let’s imagine that we lay these crayons end to end. Of course, we’d have to be quite sneaky or the children who would still be sobbing from their sorrow at having been deprived of these artistic instruments would pick them up and walk off with them. But, we’re in fantasy land, so bear with me. We’ll lay every crayon one after another in a long line. How far do you think our line would reach? Across America? Half way round the world? In fact, our line would manage to wrap itself right the way round planet Earth not once, or even twice, but a complete four and a half times!

Putting it another way, every decade Crayola produce enough crayons to reach right from here to the moon, and since they started manufacturing Crayons they could have done a complete round trip to the moon five times.

So what is our fascination with these crayons? They crack, snap, crumble and leave horrible marks on expensive furniture. Yet somehow, holding a stick of colour in your hand you become the owner of a world not yet formed. The blank canvas in front of you hides a universe not yet born, but still drifting around in your mind as thoughts. Like a god, you create a world out of nothingness, vibrant colours flaming their way across a sea of white. Castles, dragons, flowers and cute little houses with four windows and a door in the middle, complete with blazing sun and smoke coming from the chimney. Quite why you’d have the fire on during what is clearly a hot summer’s day I don’t know, but this is our reality, a world where we write the rules. A world where we command existence with nothing more than a small stick of colour held together with glue.

We don’t need to steal all those crayons. Every child has the power to reach the moon. And they only need one crayon to get there.

Victor Epand is an expert consultant about kids toys, dolls, and video games. You will find the best marketplace for kids toys, dolls, and video games at these sites: http://www.4kidstoys.info , http://www.dollsgamestoys.info , and http://www.usedvideogamesell.com .

Not long ago it was my little boy’s birthday, and he received a fair mountain of exciting looking toys. Everything seems to be interactive these days. When I was his age I was the active one, but it seems that today there is an expectation that the toy will be every bit as active as the child playing with it. His happy face as he looked eagerly at the spectrum of shiny plastic with flashing lights and happy faces, large shiny buttons calling out to be pressed so that they can leap into action and start performing feats certain to dazzle and amaze.

But to begin with, we all just sat there looking at the boxes, because we knew one thing. They’d all need batteries. Every year it’s the same - we realise our mistake and think that next year we’ll be one ahead of the toy manufacturers and have a full set of batteries in every size and colour, rechargeable and disposable, small, large, square and ready to inject life into the inanely grinning but stubbornly static creatures, frozen in mid grin, snarl or thought. Yet every year, by the time we are ready to rip open this myriad of electric power we realise that, yet again, we have forgotten to buy any. There might be one or two old batteries rolling around at the back of the kitchen drawer, although they’ll probably be of different sizes, and one of them won’t work.

At which point we start raiding the electric gadgets around the house that may have batteries in. Our cannibalistic rampage through the house reveals just how many things have batteries. These small innocuous little cylinders of power seem to be everywhere. The remote controls - all four of them, have at least two each packed away in their little chambers, the radio, the alarm, the egg timer - so many batteries, and so many different sizes.

It’s always the bigger toys that take those really huge batteries - the ones that almost seem as big as toilet roll inserts, and nothing in the house has those in them. I think my old radio used to, but these days everything else has slimmed down, and now it’s just those thin ones left. Is it just me, or do other parents become so desperate that they start shoving the little batteries into the backs of toys that need big ones, cramming the space with silver foil? To no avail, the toy still glares at me with its inane grin and boggle eyes that seem to be gloating at my ineptitude, its grin becoming a sneer at my failure to fulfil the simple duty of a parent to always have a stash of suitable batteries lest my child fall foul of having to experience patience. These toys are interactive for goodness’ sake, how are they supposed to cope if they don’t have batteries in them? They might almost have to use their imagination for a while, and won’t that be just awful?

It’s usually at about this point, or at least, right after I’ve gouged a hole in my thumb with the screwdriver I was using to try to prise the back of the stubbornly inactive toy, that I notice what my child is doing; he’s having a whale of a time, thoroughly enjoying himself as he creates his own game, with the cardboard box the toy came in. And it didn’t even need batteries.

Victor Epand is an expert consultant about kids toys, dolls, and video games. You will find the best marketplace for kids toys, dolls, and video games at these sites: http://www.4kidstoys.info , http://www.dollsgamestoys.info , and http://www.usedvideogamesell.com .

Some researchers believe that kids addiction to video games may not be healthy for that, in fact, some of psychologists believe that certain action games that involve violence may produce different levels of aggressiveness in children towards real people.

We, as parents, should take control over what games our kids play and set limits on the amount of time they spend playing.

Do you play video or online games? The statistic is quiet shocking: the average age of a game player is 33 years old. Yes, it’s 33. Hard to believe, but reality is that parents sometimes get addicted to games their children playing. I, myself, got totally addicted to Rayman Raving Rabbids, I just love these terrible creatures. Do I believe that my son would start chasing people with toilet plunger on the streets after playing the game? Highly unlikely.

With all this hype about video games first thing you need to do is to carefully explore the description on a package. The detailed information and content of a game is presented in details on the back of every game box. Check a game rating on a game’s package. For more information visit The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) organization that assigns the ratings that appear on the front and back of every game available for purchase or rental.

You have to get familiar with game rating symbols and understand their meaning.
Secondly some kids are often asking adults, sometimes in a very sweet and irresistible manner, to buy them games intended for older kids.

I think in this situation parents should use their common sense and validate their kids request from different angles: Is the game that your kid is asking you to buy violent? Is there a mature content involved? Is this a type of the game that could make your son or daughter irritable and hyperactive? Use your common sense, at the end who knows your kid better than you do?

If you are not sure if the proposed game may affect your child in a bad way stand your ground and be firm by saying “no”. Unless you know the game inside out and play a particular game intended for teens yourself it is better not to take the risk.
Always consider your child’s behavior and personality.

Be proactive and read game reviews available online and game magazines, download games demo or rent it for free with online game rental stores. If you get involved and play together with your child you’d better understand his or her needs and you’d be certainly more aware of what your child is up to. When my son is asking me for another game

I do a full research online, talk to other parents and see what they have to say about the game, ask questions on game forums if for some reason certain game concerns me.

Good luck and happy playing!

Visit my store http://www.games-for-kids-to-play.com for exciting game selection or try game rental services for free

One day, a friend of mine saw me in line at the grocery store. I was balancing boxes of Capri Suns, cheap plastic goodie bag paraphernalia, and a super tall cake with a Barbie thrust through the middle. I was running late, and I was fearing the guests would arrive before I did, so I was probably sweating and out of breath. I was tired of the birthday party already, and it had not started yet.

Figuring she could commiserate, I said, “Birthday parties wear me out.” And she said, “But they are so joyous.”

Ah, spoken like someone who has a really good nanny.

Preschool birthday parties are joyous, but, the truth is, when my kids were younger, I tended to lose sight of what a successful birthday party is: a memorable event that makes your child feel treasured. I invested way too much into the vision of what I wanted the birthday party experience to be, without thinking enough about the experience from the point of view of my child. I stressed about not leaving out siblings, of having age appropriate goodie bags for a range of children that was way, way too wide. Somewhere along the line, the magic of the experience was lost.

Now that my kids are a little older, and I have a few more parties under my belt, I do it differently.

Here are some tips for throwing a birthday party for children ages 5 and under.

Start early.
It is much easier to get everything done when you plan ahead.

Keep it short.
A two hour party is plenty long for children age 3 and under. Children ages 4 and 5 can generally handle an hour or two longer, but you do not need to go nuts. Birthday parties are tremendously stimulating for a small child. Throw in some sugar, and tantrums are inevitable.

Keep it small.
The rule of thumb is to keep the number of guests equal to the age of the child. Too many guests take the attention away from the child who is being honored. If you have a large extended family (especially if your family includes cousins with a great variation in ages) you may want to consider having a family celebration separate from the celebration with friends. We have started having our family over for pizza the night before or the night after the party with friends.

Keep it simple.
Ask your child for ideas on activities, games, crafts, or food to have at your party. Kids are surprisingly imaginative and often know exactly how they would like their birthday party to be. Plus, their ideas are often surprisingly simple. Asking your children to describe the type of party they would like to have is a good starting point. If it is over the top, you can simplify from there. For example, if your child longs for a grand princess tea party, ask everyone to come in their favorite dress up outfit and decorate paper or plastic mugs as your activity. The birthday girl can be responsible for pouring apple juice and handing out the finger sandwiches.

Ask for help.
Ask family members, older siblings, and friends to stick around. If there is a child who you worry about how to handle behaviorally, invite the parent to stay for the party.

Make each guest feel special as they arrive.
Young children can feel tentative at first in a festive, noisy atmosphere, so make sure to make them feel welcome. One really popular idea that we have done in the past: Enlist an older sibling or a parent to do simple face painting for each guest as they arrive.

Give the wee ones something to do.
You do not need to go overboard, but having a plan is important, and will help the party go more smoothly. This age will engage in free play for quite some time. And then you can have a simple craft station, followed by a simple game, if you are feeling ambitious. Simple crafts can include making photo frames (Orientaltrading.com is great for simple ideas such as these.) All you need is some stickers and squares of cardstock with a 4×6 square cut into the center. Then you can take a photo of the child with the birthday boy or girl and print it immediately (if you have a digital camera kit equipped to do so) or send the photo in the thank you note. If there is time, you might play some games. Kids love simple party games, such as Duck, Duck, Goose and Ring Around The Rosy. But beware that once a group of children gets riled up, it can be hard to bring them back down.

Use music to help with crowd control.
Fun, lively kids tunes can get the party started. When everyone starts to get a little wild and crazy, switch the music to soft classical. The kids probably will not consciously notice a difference, but you are bound to see a change in their behavior.

Maintain order at gift giving time.
Too often, the children are feeling wild and a bit out of control by the time it is time to open gifts, and it is hard to regain control once the gift wrap starts flying. Start in an orderly fashion by placing two chairs side by side. (Kid sized chairs are best.) The child who is opening gifts sits in one chair and the giver sits in the other while their present is opened. This way, the giver feels singled out and special as she watches her present being opened. This also sets up a perfect photo opportunity, when you are guaranteed to have just the guest and the giver in the photo.

Make the birthday girl or boy feel special.
One tradition that we have been doing for our children once they turn four is to give the birthday child an inexpensive single use disposable camera (if you look for these on sale, you can get them for under $5.) Tell them that the camera is theirs to document their birthday and birthday party in whatever way they like. When the photos are developed, they can put the prints in an inexpensive plastic mini photo book. Kids take such pride in photos they take themselves.

Goodie Bags.
Go for quality rather than quantity. Young kids love anything with their name on it. Here is a popular idea that we have used: Find inexpensive little sketchbooks and use rubber stamps to spell the name of the guest on the front. Tie a ribbon around the front so it looks extra fancy to young eyes, pair it with a couple of crayons or markers and a lollipop, and you are all set. Kids also love to unwrap things, so instead of filling a goodie bag with small items, you might gift wrap a more meaningful item and send it home with them.

Some more ideas: My 5 year old recently came home from a party with a full size Hersheys bar, and she was the envy of the entire neighborhood. Another big hit: My sister in law once had a spring garden party for her 5 year old with mini terra cotta pots tied with ribbons and a tiny silk flower. Each child got to plant a seed during the party and take the pot home as a party favor.

Quick and Easy Thank You Notes.
An easy way to do thank you notes is to save up all of the artwork your child creates on any given day, cut the page down the middle, and fold each half into a card. Ask your child what he or she would like to say to each of the guests, in turn. Write them up and ask your child to sign their name, if they are able. If not, they can draw a little picture (or not, depending on the time you want to spend and the patience level of you and your child). Insert a photo of the birthday child and the guest enjoying themselves, and you are done till next year.

Susie Cortright is the founder of Momscape.com, http://www.momscape.com and Susies-Coupons.com, http://www.susies-coupons.com where she hand picks only the very best online coupons, including coupons for simple kids’ party crafts, games, and activities:
http://www.susies-coupons.com/trading-co.htm

My personal journal has long been a confidant, a creativity tool, and a way of finding clarity like no other. So as soon as my children were old enough to grip a crayon, I started encouraging them to keep their own personal journals.

How does journaling benefit a child?

Children reap the same benefits in keeping a personal journal as do adults.

At all ages, there are certain times when life feels fuzzy, and we know that it is time to get out our journal and write until things make more sense. Gaining clarity in this way can help us sort things out and determine when we need to talk things out with someone, and what precisely our needs are. In this way, journals serve as a remarkable way to enhance self esteem and to allow children to observe their lives from a new perspective.

Journals offer a safe place for children to express themselves creatively. Journals also preserve memories for posterity. They offer the most authentic evidence of their unique point of view at particular and various stages of their lives.

How can I help my child start journaling?

Here are some ideas:

1. Above all, journaling needs to be fun for kids. I find the best success when I do not offer specific prompts or writing exercises (mostly because I do not want it to feel like homework.) But if your child is stuck, start by asking them a few simple questions. What is the most exciting thing they have done in the past week, month, or year? What is the favorite part of their bedroom? Who is their best friend and why? Who is their favorite fictional character? Do they ever feel like a particular color? Why?

2. Kids need to know their journal is absolutely private and confidential. A child needs to be able to trust that parents, siblings, and friends will not peek into the journal unless specifically invited to do so.

Ask your child if there is anything in the journal he or she would like to share with anyone, but make sure your child knows that you will not be reading it. Also, let your children know that the main focus is not on writing things correctly but on expressing themselves and getting to the meat of their own thoughts.

3. Allow your children to choose their own journals and maybe a unique pen. Encourage your children to personalize the journal, too. Give them a magazine and have them cut out words and images that describe them and create a collage on the cover that is unique to them.

A personal journal does not have to be expensive. In fact, I find that I am less inhibited in my journaling if the book is a plain old notebook or composition book. If your child is more apt to draw photos than to write, consider a sketchpad instead. Some kids feel most comfortable with some notecards and a special “thought box,” which can also be decorated and personalized.

4. Emphasize the fact that there is no right or wrong way to keep a personal journal. This is about letting life flow and to capture it however they like. Encourage them to incorporate notes, quotes, photos, magazine articles, memorabilia, and sketches in their journals.

5. Write in your own journal alongside your child. I am in the habit of writing in my journal each day. When you model that behavior, you will find that this is how your children use their journals as well. My daughter leaves her journal in the car so that it is readily available during her quiet downtime each day.

Susie Cortright is the founder of several popular websites, including http://www.bestselfhelp.com, http://www.susies-coupons.com, and http://www.momscape.com, where you can register to win gift cards from top online merchants.