Senses journals

[primsong]

I was just thinking on the recent post of what she encountered during her day from senmut - it reminded me of when my children were younger and we kept a little pocket spiral notebook for each one, labeled "(Name)'s Senses Journal".

Every now and then we'd pull theirs out and sit down with them to have them answer "What do you touch/taste/feel/smell/see", writing the answers down absolutely verbatim. They are absolute joys to read over now - especially the ones from when they were toddlers, or when they were talking to their siblings at the same time they were answering. ("I see a....NO! That's MINE!...Mooooom, tell him that's mine.") They're all teens now and we filled the little books up when they were in later grade school, they reside in our fire-safe now and are still enjoyed, they're that precious. Just an idea, for those of you whose lives involve small children.

Comments

[curuchamion]

LOL - when we were very tiny (I was four or five, and I'm the oldest), my dad decided to teach us some basic philosophy and theology using the Socratic method. And write down the results.

It was, as you might expect, epic. ;-)

[primsong]

I *love* that - oh wow, I wish I'd done that. We do also have a journal that's filled with their 'stories' - they would tell me a story and I would write it down. Some of them are absolutely hilarious now, including one they all remember now detailing the viewpoint of some pears being eaten and digested, lol... set to music...

[senmut]

That's a beautiful idea. There's a few things I wish my late partner and I had recorded for posterity about the children's sayings and doings.

[ex_bel786]

What a great idea!

[primsong]

I like sharing the ideas that worked - I wish I'd had a journal back then, it would have been such a sanity saver just to be in communication with adults at times. ;-)

[nentari]

What a wonderful idea!

[primsong]

I think I found the idea in one of those books full of activities for kids, back when I only had one kid and could manage the library. By the time I had three underfoot, the library was impossible and we just got books at garage sales, heh.