Around here its registration week for school. School starts in just three short weeks! This means back-to-school preparations are getting in full swing! On Sunday, Kailea and I went shopping for school supplies where I saw one of my favorite back to school finds:  bargain priced composition books! These are great for creating a journal of any kind, but a particularly fun project is the shared journal.

I blogged about this a few years ago…back in the days when my son and I still wrote notes to each other. (Now we send text messages which are fun, too, but they don’t give you the keepsake that a shared journal does.) Essentially, a shared journal is simply a place to capture an ongoing conversation between two people using short notes and letters. This simple idea will help keep the lines of communication open with your child once the school year gets in full swing. Plus, it’s a fun end-of-summer project you could do with your kids…when it’s too hot to go outside. (Which seems to be a regular occurrence around here lately!) It’s a quick and easy project…and with those bargain-priced composition books, it’s an inexpensive project, too.

Shared journal
To create your journal, start with a plain composition book. Then, cover the front and back covers (inside and out) using decoupage medium and scrapbook paper. When the decoupage is dry, sand-off any excess paper using a sanding block. Add a few stickers to create a title, and viola! you’ve got a place to capture your notes to and from your kiddo.

Journal inside

If you aren’t up for creating your own cute composition books, Greenroom has some composition books with covers that are too-die-for cute. I found these at Target in the school supplies area.

Composition books

Get to know your kidIf you love the idea of a shared journal, here’s another idea you’ll think is super fun. It’s a book called Get to Know Your Kid written by Shannon Connell Noyes. Inside the book are blank, lined pages with quotation bubbles that prompt your child to write about themselves by answering simple questions. For example, one page in the book asks the question “What was the best day of your life? Describe it.” Another page asks your child “If you could go on vacation anywhere in the world for free, where would it be? Who would you take with you? How would you get there?” The cover even includes a removable sticker so you can create a customized front cover with your child’s name. Very cute!

How do you keep the lines of communication open between you and your kids during the busy school year? I’d love to hear what works for you! Thanks for sharing!