85+ Journal Prompts for Scrapbooking Childhood Memories - Memory Journals, Bujos and Year Books

Would you like to put together a scrapbook of your childhood memories but not sure what to write about. In this article I provide you with more than 85 journaling prompts that you can use as starters to get you writing about your treasured memories of growing up. Don't let anxiety about what to journal and how to journal hold you back from starting your scrapbook of childhood memories today.

Scrapbooking your childhood memories into a memory album can be one of the most rewarding scrapbook projects you might ever undertake. There is a little bit of the child still left in all of us and scrapbooking about your life growing up will bring you close to that child who still resides within. Plus you will preserving those precious memories of your life story for future generations to enjoy and wonder about.

If you are new to scrapbooking or would like some tips on scrapbooking childhood memories into a memory book or album then consider taking a look at my earlier scrapbooking article in which I provide an overview of how to get started scrapbooking your childhood memories

Tips for Journaling Childhood Memories in a Scrapbook

• You don't have to be a writer to journal
• Give yourself freedom to write whatever comes to mind. Edit later
• Trust that others will be interested in knowing about your early experiences
• Keep your stories in the one place for easy access as you write them down
• Remember the basics: when, where, what, who, why and how
• Include your feelings about the event or people not just what happened and when. Let others know what you felt about what was happening.
• Include the everday stories not just main events eg daily routine
• Write the longer version of your story first then cut it down to include in your scrapbook journaling blocks. The stories of your early life can have more than one use eg in a memory journal or part of a written account of your life. Who knows even a book?

How to Use the Journaling Prompts

Start With One or Two Journaling Prompts
To get started just pick a couple of prompts from the list and work on writing about these. Some people like to start with the photo as the memory jogger and others write the journal note first. With a bit of practice you will soon work out what works best for you. And who knows what forgotten memories might surface?

Use a Notebook, Computer or Google Docs
I suggest that you start a notebook if you are writing by hand as it will help keep all your stories together so they don't get lost. If journaling on the computer make sure you back up your stories once you start recording them. If you have a Google account you might consider using Google Docs for easy online access across devices and to other services like Google Photos and Google Drive.

Group Similar Stories Together and Envisage the Journaling on Your Layout
Grouping stories about people, places or activities can be helpful in writing about your early life. For instance if you were to write about the places you lived growing up think about how your might group these in your scrapbook memory book layout. Would you need a page for each story about a place or would you envisage putting all your photos on a two page spread and journaling around these?

85+ Journaling Prompts of Childhood Memories - Mega List of Journaling Starters for Scrapbooking

Make sure you check out my mega list of journaling prompts for scrapbooking your childhood memories set out below. There are more than 80 journal prompts to help you access childhood memories and get you journaling. Over time I will be adding more to the list so check back often for updates.

1. Your earliest memory (what makes it still so vivid?)
2. Family members - immediate (who are they? your relationship growing up, who were you close to?)
3. Family members - extended (who were you close to? grandparents, cousins, uncles and aunts)
4. Best friend (who? still friends now?)
5. Friends
6. Memorable People
7. Pets
8. Cities, towns you lived in
9. Your house or houses (what do you remember about the rooms, temperature, light quality, near tothe smell, sunny, dark, warm, cold?)
10. Your room
11. Your personality (character traits eg shy, precocious, studious, bossy, a star, different etc)
12. Looks (what did you look like? eg tall/short for your age, wore thick specs, gangly, spotty)
13. Bullying (what did you get teased for and why?)
14. Holidays and vacations (where did you go? what did you do? who did you meet? who was with you?)
15. Memorable places (smells, visual memories etc)
16. Family traditions (what were they? and why?)
17. Family secrets (what and why?)
18. Neighbours
19. Schools (which ones? for how long?)
20. What you liked and didn't like about school
21. Teachers (was there a teacher who was influential)
22. Role models (who and why?)
23. Visitors
24. Achievements
25. Awards and Certificates
26. Competitions won
27. First dance
28. First crush
29. First date
30. First kiss
31. First times (eg owned a watch, on an aeroplane, saw snow, went to school by yourself etc)
32. Embarassing moments growing up (what happened, why was it embarassing? what did you do next?)
33. After school job
34. Favorite sayings and expressions
35. Favorite hobbies
36. Favorite pastimes
37. Favorite musical instrument (what did you learn to play?)
38. Favorite gift / gifts (what and why?)
39. Chores
40. Morning routine
41. Pocket money (how much? what did you spend it on?)
42. Clubs
43. Service Groups
44. Church
45. Sports
46. Playmates (who did you play with? siblings? friends? neighbours?)
47. Times when you were sick
48. Time when others were sick
49. Favorite foods (what was special about these?)
50. Least favorite foods (what didn't you like)
51. Favorite foods to cook
52. Favorite time of the day (what happened then? why?)
53. Favorite thing to do
54. Favorite games (who won and why?)
55. Favorite school subjects
56. Favorite arts and crafts
57. Favorite songs
58. Favorite books
59. Favorite movie or movies
60. Favorite cartoon and cartoon character
61. Favorite toys
62. Favorite collections (what did you collect and why?)
63. Favorite day of the week (don't forget to say why)
64. Favorite belongings (what these things important to you?)
65. Favorite hideaway (eg treehouse, hut, in the bushes)
66. Favorite places
67. Favorite clothes (what did you like, not like)
68. Haircuts and styles
69. Dressing up
70. Family outings and activites (where, who with, why)
71. Weekends (how did you spend these? what was happening around you?)
72. School trips
73. Birthday parties (when and who?)
74. Running away (where did you go and what happened?)
75. Failure (what happened? what did you learn? how did it help you?)
76. Bad habits (what were they? did you ever grow out of these?)
77. Things you did even though you knew it was wrong (what happened?)
78. Liked doing the most
79. Disliked doing the most
80. Things you made (eg knitting, sewing, crafts etc)
81. Most embarassing moments
82. Things you were afraid of (eg spiders, mice, dogs, birds etc)
83. An event or incident that really scared you
84. Greatest life lesson
85. One thing you learned in school that stuck
86. What would you differently if there was a do over

#journalingprompts #scrapbooking #childhoodmemories


I hope you enjoyed this list of 85+ journaling prompts to spark childhood memories that you can use to accompany photos in your childhood memories scrapbook. If you would like to print the list of journal prompts for scrapbooking childhood memories as a PDF for future reference just click on the print button below or on the print icon in the bank of floating buttons on the right-hand side (PC) and bottom (mobile).




#scrapbook #journalprompts #childhoodmemories

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Scrapbook Your Childhood Memories in a Memory Album

In today's scrapbooking tutorial I discuss how to scrapbook your childhood memories in a memory album or memory book. This is an overview of what you will need to consider to create scrapbooking pages about your early life and your family story. Along the way I give you lots of tips about journaling, photos and documenting your life.

Scrapbooking your childhood memories can be very powerful. Writing things down and looking at old photos is a trigger for many memories to come flooding back. How easy these memories can get lost in the busyness of our lives. Why not capture them in a childhood memory album and preserve those memories for yourself and future generations to enjoy?

Also consider scrapbooking past generations if you have some family photos you want to preserve. Documenting your family history is engaging and rewarding process and it is amazing what family secrets you might uncover. Remember you are an invaluable resource of the past and it pays to get these memories recorded for prosterity before they are lost. If you want to start a family history project I suggest you start on recording your childhood first and then move on to family history as a separate project.

Getting Started

1. Choose a 12x12 album or 8x8 inches for this project. Chances are you have lots of pictures you want to include and a smaller album will limit your photo choices too much.
   
   Physical Scrapbook vs Digital Scrapbook
   The assumption is that you will be making a physical scrapbook but of course you could decide to make a digital one instead. Or even better why not do both? Whatever format you choose you will need to decide on a standard size of your pages as a starting point.
   
   
   
   Black, White or Brown Pages
   Do you want black pages, white ones or maybe even natural looking brown ones? Black and white photos can look particularly good on black.
   
   Choose Acid Free Album and Pages
   Make sure whatever album and pages you choose they are acid free and of archival quality. Also the same goes for any pens and rubber stamping you use - the ink needs to be fade resistant and of archival quality.


2. Gather scrapbooking supplies together like cardstock and paper, embellishments, stickers, frames, brads, washi tape, tags etc. Some of these you may need to purchase if you have not done a lot of scrapbooking before. If you are completely new to keeping a scrapbook you might want to consider taking a class. A good place to start would be to ask at a scrapbooking store near you.
   
   
   
   Other scrapbooking supplies you will need are scrapbooking tools like pens, markers, ruler, scissors, double-sided tape or glue sticks, a cutter, cutting mat etc.
   
   You don't necessarily need to own all these items as you may be able to borrow these short-term from a fellow scrapbooker. If you do decide to buy scrapbooking supplies remember it is an investment in keeping memories alive for future generations and therefore worth the expense.


3. Create a timeline and place the most significant events of your life on it. Collect key photos that match various early life events and experiences. Very likely you will be presenting your album chronologically but consider other ways to catalogue your memories such as themes. I have seen some wonderful albums created using themes such as my school, my friends, family vacations, our house etc.



4. Keep a notebook and take time to jot down memories as they come to you. What stories do others tell about you? Did you have favorite ones as a child? You may need to ask other family members for their thoughts and ideas.
   
   
   
   Take the Time to Write Down Important Childhood and Family Memories
   Just make a start documenting in your notebook. It doesn't have to be perfect. Just get the memory down in the first instance. You can perfect the composition of it later if you think you need to. I encourage you to just write and don't filter too much. Often memories written this way have a way of sounding more authentic and heartfelt.
   
   Once you get started writing down your early history and and what was happening in your family you'll be surprised about how much comes back to you. Give this project some thought and the time it deserves after all you are investing in you. Use your photos as memory joggers. Concentrate on the remembering the 5 Ws: when, where, what, who and why.


5. Assemble photos, momentos and emphemera from Your Childhood
   While you are bringing together all your photos, momentos and emphemera from the past it is a good idea to store these in one place as you find them. Special storage boxes can be purchased that are achival safe for keeping old photos and other memorabilia for extended periods.
   
   
   
   Store Your Photos and Momentos Safely
   If you are using an old shoe box or chocolate box don't leave your precious photos in there too long as the paper will degrade over time. Be sure to store all your precious momentos in a dry place as mould is a killer. If you have photos in old plastic albums consider shifting these as you work on your family history project as gums and residues can be harmful to old photos.
   
   
   
   Types of Emphemera to Use of Scrapbooking Layouts
   Ticket stubs old programmes, cards, brochures, pamphlets, maps etc are all the types of emphemera that can be used in layouts but also they are invaluable sources of information about when an event occurred. By looking over any keepsake you have kept of that time you are likely to remember more.
   
   Document the Everyday Not Just the Big Events
   Remember that scrapbooking isn't just about scrapping the big events, its magic is as much about capturing the everyday too. So much is changing that within a couple of generations everyday life can be very different. Your stories represent an invaluable history and a snapshot of your life story. Other people especially future generations will be interested in what you have recorded.


6. Journaling tips to get you thinking about your childhood
   Think about some snapshot moments and describe some of these in detail. What stands out to you about growing up? What are some of your most sacred memories about your childhood? What were some of the everyday things you did? Paint a picture in words of what it was like for you.
   
   Compare and Contrast
   Comparing and contrasting is a good technique to use in scrapbook pages and memory journals about childhood memories. How is what you did back then different from today? Was it better or worse and why?
   
   
   
   Who Was Important to You? Who Influenced You?
   Think people. Who were the most influential people in your life and why were they important to you? Usually these people vary depending on ages and stages but there might be several people who have been stalwarts in your life all along. What do you value most about these relationships with others?
   
   Add Sentiment Not Just Facts
   Don't be afraid to talk about the feelings you have about your life experiences. What has happened to you has shaped who you are today. Let others know about what has challenged you too. What achievements are you proud of. What would you do differently if you could do it all over again.


7. Journaling Prompts to Help You Write Stories, Sketches and Snippets from Your Childhood
   Scrapbooking is about a cohesive mix of photos, journaling and embellishments. Your journaling is a key element in presenting your own history or your family's history. Try not to focus too much on how something looks on the page at the expense of telling the story.
   
   Here are some journaling prompts to use as starters in scrapbooking childhood memories:
   
   

   Your earliest memory, your house(s), your room, holidays and vacations, schools, neighbours, family members, friends, favourite hobbies and pasttimes, achievements, clubs, sports, memorable people, favourite foods, favourite songs, favourite toys and belongings, favourite clothes.


If you want more journal prompts to help you record your childhood and growing up take a look at my mega list of 85+ journal prompts for scrapbooking childhood memories which you could use in scrapbooks, memory books, bullet journals, year books etc.




8. Bringing your childhood memories together on the page
   Once you have thought about journaling, picked out some photos on the same theme and have borrowed or purchased your scrapbooking supplies it's time to start putting these altogether in layouts.
   
   Consider the Mood You Want to Create
   Think about the overall theme of the photos and what mood you want to convey eg whimsical, retro etc. Select cardstock and papers that match your theme and the colors in your photos.
   
   Avoid Overusing Embellishments
   Choose your embellishments carefully. Usually 3-5 embellishments per page is ample. The job of embellishments is to enhance your photos and journaling not detract from them. As a rule of thumb simple is best.
   
   Consider doing a Dummy Run to Boost Your Confidence
   If you find it hard to get started perhaps because you lack confidence or are relatively new to scrapbooking then my advice is to just start somewhere and trust the process. If you are really unsure consider doing some practice runs by making a few mockup pages using photocopies or copies of your precious photos and keepsakes. This will help you to get a feel for how you like elements arranged on a page and give you rein to let your own personality and style come through.
   
   Photo Scan and Collage Apps
   Photo Scan is an example of one app for mobile that can be very useful in taking scans of your old photos so that you can print them out at a photo booth or order photos online.
   
   
   
   Collages can be a way of getting more photos on the page. There are plenty of photo editing and collage apps available to help you to make the most of displaying your photos effectively and attractively. The LiPix app is simple but useful app available for both Apple and Android users for creating collages for scrapbooking photos as you can set popular photo sizes and it offers a nice range of frames where you can add up to 9 photos in one frame.
   
   
   
   Extra Journaling Solutions
   If you find you need to do extra journaling consider adding a pocket to the page or adding an insert that gives you freedom to write more. There are some clever ways to get more journaling on the page such as attaching a photo with washi tape on one side only which can conceal extra journaling underneath.
   
   Extra Emphemera and Momentos
   If you have more emphemera than you can fit on your pages try adding a large pocket to the front or back cover of your album to store additional items or memorabilia that is too large to fit on your memory layout. Pockets on the pages are also useful if you don't have the room to display all your momentos.
   
   Allow Yourself to Make Mistakes - Perfection isn't the Goal
   Most importantly have fun with your scrapbooking childhood memories layouts. They do not have to be perfect. Remember it is the story they tell which is much more important.
   
   You will make mistakes and that is part of the process of scrapbooking. Give yourself permission to make mistakes right now or you run the risk of not starting or getting stalled in the process.
   
   

#scrapbooking #memoryjournal #easytoscrapbook #memorybook

This scrapbooking article has provided some practical information and advice to get you started on scrapbooking a memory album of your childhood. It has provided an overview of albums, scrapbooking supplies, photo storage, timelines, journalling tips and prompts, using momentos and scrapbooking memory layouts. If you enjoyed this article and want to see more like this consider sharing it and following me on social media or via email.

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