Free Printable Travel Journal for Kids
Who doesn’t love a family vacation?! They’re full of exciting adventures, new discoveries, and cherished memories. Or at least that’s what I envision before vacationing with my own kids.
Let me throw in some stress, chaos, and meltdowns to capture a more realistic representation of vacationing with my two young children. Maybe you can relate!
While my husband and I tend to remember a lot of details about our family vacations, I’ve noticed that my two girls often forget about some of their experiences. So, I decided to create a printable travel journal that they could use to document our journeys.
You can read all about how we use the trip diary below, and you can even download a free PDF of the travel journal templates!
Using a Kids Travel Journal
I initially created the vacation journals to help my kids remember details from their trips. But, I’ve noticed that these trip diaries do so much more than that!
The first page of the journal features planning information for the trip. This really helps kids remember all the details of the vacation like:
- Where you’re going
- What day you’re leaving
- How long you’re staying
- Who is going
This also saves you from answering these same questions over and over again since your kids can document the answers in their journal!
The meat of the journal includes a page for each day of the trip where children can include the highlights from that day. These pages provide space for kids to draw or write about their experiences.
I also included a section for kids to write about the best things that happened each day. This allows children to focus on positive moments from the trip even if a day didn’t turn out how they had planned.
The next two pages of the printable travel journal bundle include overall summaries of the trip. Kids can jot down answers to prompts like:
- Best thing I ate
- Favorite activity
- Best thing I saw
There’s also plenty of space to draw a final picture of a highlight from the family vacation. And an extra page to attach things like ticket stubs and photos.
I’ve found these travel packets also serve as a great downtime activity to keep the kids busy while I’m organizing at the end of the day. Not to mention the writing and grammar skills that come into practice as they’re filling out the pages!
Free Printable Travel Journal Templates
I created two printable travel journal templates for families to enjoy. The first is a black and white version that offers plenty of coloring space for kiddos. This design features the same pages as our color version but with a simpler design.
The color templates include the same kid-friendly elements as the black and white options. The pages feature prompts, drawing spaces, and a section for attaching photos or mementos like tickets and postcards.
You can download the free PDF of the black and white version here. (The full color templates are also available for free by filling out the form below.) The journal templates are designed to be easily printable on standard letter-sized paper. Just print out a copy of the journal for each child before the trip begins.
Encourage the kids to write in their journals at the end of each day, recapping the day’s events and highlights. Families can even share their entries at the end of the trip.
We like to staple each child’s journal and store it with other trip journals from past vacations. You could even place them in report covers for extra durability.
Conclusion
A travel journal offers kids a unique way to capture vacation moments, helping them develop writing skills, stimulate their imagination, and create a lasting keepsake of their family vacations. It’s a personalized diary where they can express their thoughts, feelings, and observations.
My free printable travel journal for kids not only enhances the travel experience but also nurtures a love for writing and self-expression. So, gear up for your next family adventure and let the little ones embark on a journey of creativity with their very own travel journal!
If you have a long travel day ahead of you, check out our Would You Rather Questions for Kids and our Conversation Starters to help kill time on your trip!
~ Using My Images and Files ~
You are welcome to print and use my designs as many times as you like for personal use only. You are not permitted to sell any of my files or products. Additionally, you may not share a link to any files on social media or on another website. If you would like to share one of my images or printables, you must link back to my web page where you found it.
