Now more than ever, getting our children into a positive mindset is really important and the HappySelf Journal is the perfect tool to help you with that. The HappySelf Journal is designed for children aged 6 to 12 but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t suitable for younger or older children too. The idea is to promote growth mindset, positivity and getting them to focus each day on the good things that have happened.
I have explored the idea of journalling before with my children. When my now teenage son started showing signs of anxiety, someone recommended getting him to write down the things that were worrying him before he went to sleep. Whilst it did help him settle a little, my worry was that it focused too much on the negatives. My daughter doesn’t suffer with anxiety in the same way as her brother did, but she is a worrier. She bought herself a diary last year with the idea of keeping a daily record of her life, but in the end she found it too difficult to keep up with.
As soon as I saw the HappySelf Journal, I knew that this was the perfect thing for her. It is a page a day journal that doesn’t involve a huge amount of writing. On each journal page, you write the date, your top three things of the day, you choose an emoji to sum up how you felt during that day and then at the bottom there will either be a challenge, a tick list of things you have done or achieved, questions to answer, write a positive affirmation or plan a random act of kindness. On top of each page there is also a positive quote of the day.
As there isn’t huge amount of writing to do each day, it only takes five or ten minutes. My daughter does her HappySelf Journal at the end of each day before she goes to bed. We find that this works well as it gives us a chance to talk about her day and to focus on the positives before she goes to sleep. This has been particularly useful on days when she is feeling grumpy; maybe because she has had a fallout with someone or something has happened that she didn’t like. It is quite therapeutic for her to have a positive focus before settling down.
The HappySelf Journal has additional pages too. The first few pages are dedicated to explaining about the wonders of having a growth mindset and it is done in a very child-friendly way with a list of ways to think about things in a more positive way. There are also some fun pages with lots of different activities to complete such as a double page dedicated to “What makes me happy?”.
A double page of Emoji Fun immediately appealed to my emoji-loving daughter. This is two pages filled with blank yellow emojis for you to create expressions to go with a range of emotions and some already created for you to label with an emotion.
There are so many things that I love about this journal. Firstly, of course it is brimming with positivity. In a world where we so easily focus on the negatives, it is a lovely way to recap your child’s day and see the good things that happen. Not only that, I love the way that it talks about a growth mindset and gives opportunities to write down achievements, plan acts of kindness. It gives your child the chance to celebrate even the smallest of victories on a day to day basis and to remind themselves of things they can do, rather than those that they can’t.
It is fun. The simplicity of the colours; yellow, white and black, are striking but appealing and we love the little doodles throughout the journal.
It is manageable. Each day only takes a few minutes but if you have extra time, you can go back through the fun pages and add to the lists and things that make you happy, or maybe just doodle a few more emojis. Or maybe even go to the back of the journal and have a little doodle.
It opens up conversation. I love the fact that we talk about this at bedtime and she tells me what she has written and we talk about the task at the end of the page. She also likes to read the quote to me and we discuss what it means and who the person was that said it. Talking is so important and if something like this enables your child to talk to you, that can only be a good thing.
It is positive. The HappySelf Journal is positive in every way. Some children today have to deal with a lot and I think that this is something that can really help in so many ways and of course it can also be looked back at and hopefully reading back through each journal will inspire and motivate them about all of the good things in their lives.
We started using the HappySelf Journal just before the lockdown due to Covid19. I was initially worried that my daughter might find it difficult to keep up as life stuck at home is not as exciting as being out and about at school and off on adventures. If anything, it has really helped as she has really focussed on the positives of home-schooling and family time at home and it will be an interesting reminder of this tricky time.
The HappySelf Journal is priced at £19.90 at the time of writing and you can order your copy here. The journal is designed to last for three months if it is written daily. I will admit that £19.90 is quite expensive for a journal but I can honestly say that it is worth it. Even though I didn’t pay for this one, I would certainly invest in further journals as my daughter is getting such a lot out of using her HappySelf Journal every day.
Disclaimer – we were sent one HappySelf Journal in return for this review. All opinions and images are my own and the link is an affiliate link
Both my boys have these. They are 10 and 12. They have quietly filled them out every night, think they enjoy the fact they dont have to write lots in there! I know its been a really positive experience for them as they’ve asked for more. Thanks Stressy Mummy, stay safe and well x