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How To Put Together A Kids Vacation Journal (plus a free printable)

Looking for a fun way for your kids to remember vacation? Check out this free printable vacation journal for kids from www.drugstoredivas.net.

We all have a lot of traveling to make up for this year. Pete and I went to Florida earlier this year, and up north for a wedding, and my mom and I are going to Las Vegas in a couple months. I have a blog, so I get to journal some of it publicly, but what about you and your kids? Have you ever wondered how to put together a kids vacation journal?

When I was young, I remember my second grade winter break project was writing a journal about what I did. I was in Florida visiting my grandparents and wrote all about meeting new cousins and swimming in the pool.

Back then, I hated having to write it in. I just wanted to play and not do homework. But when I was older, I loved looking back on it and remembering that trip.

As you’re planning and picking out your travel destinations for 2021, be sure to write all your travels down in a journal of some sort. And for your kids, have them use the Vacation Journal free printable I created.

How To Put Together A Kids Vacation Journal

To start, you’re going to want to save our free printable below.

Looking for a fun way for your kids to remember vacation? Check out this free printable vacation journal for kids from www.drugstoredivas.net.

Right click on the image above, then save it to your computer. Whenever you want to use the free printable travel journal, just print out a copy.

Help your child fill out the vacation journal printable. I didn’t want to put lines in the boxes just in case you are starting the activity with a young child who can’t spell yet. They’ll be able to draw in the boxes instead. And your older children can write sentences.

When each page is done, put the travel journal printable in a sheet protector in a binder.

Or, if you want to do a little more, you can actually scan each page. Then, at the end of the year, upload them to create a photo book. That would probably last longer than the sheet protector method, but I would rather have the papers with actual handwriting on them.

Purchase a kids vacation journal:

If you don’t have a printer (or just want to give yours a break after this past year), you can purchase a kids vacation journal instead.

We found our favorites online and listed them below. That way, you don’t have to spend time hunting for one. You can just pick one of the ones listed below and get ready for your trip.

  • The Ultimate Travel Journal For Kids: Awesome Activities for Your Adventures
    This is the travel journal pictured above. It’s 84 pages, geared towards kids who are 6 to 9. The travel book is filled with games, activities, and guided travel writing prompts. There’s a map of the United States and another of the world in it, so it’s great no matter where you’re traveling.
  • Travel Journal For Kids: And So The Adventure Begins (Vacation Diary For Children)
    This travel journal relies on a two page template to help kids documents their vacations. There are prompts to write the date, weather, mood, the best part of the day, a fact about the day, and more. This focuses more on daily journaling rather than journaling the whole trip at once.
  • My Vacation Journal: Eat. Sleep. Beach. Repeat.
    This 100 page book is best for kids ages 5 to 9. The word “beach” is in the title of the vacation journal, and there are six beach themed word search puzzles in the book, but it can work for other vacations too. There are drawing games, blank sketch pages, and even comic book pages to create two vacation comics.
  • Travel Journal for Kids- Fun and Easy Way to Document Several Childhood Vacations in One Journal
    You can get this spiral-bound travel journal in either pink, blue, or in a two pack of blues. The description doesn’t list ages, but the inside pages look better for older kids as there’s more lines to write on and less graphics and drawing spaces.
  • My Travel Journal 1 (Lonely Planet Kids)
    Lonely Planet Kids is an imprint of Lonely Planet, which is known for its travel guides and advice. This travel journal is part of the Family Activity range. The range also includes My Family Travel Map (which comes in a variety of continents including North America and Europe) and Boredom Buster (a book of road trip games).
  • Kid’s Trip Diary
    This trip diary is geared towards older kids (ages 7 to 12). There are 96 pages filled with three sections: before you go, your own personal journal, and what you want to remember. The cover is waterproof, so you don’t have to worry about it getting wet at the hotel’s pool.
Sunset on the beach.

Where your 2021 family vacation be?

Now that you have the journal, and now that the world is starting to reopen, the only question that remains is: Where will you go in 2021?

We have a bunch of posts that can help you plan those trips, so I’m linking the locations for you below. The posts below are all US based. I’m separating them by region, and putting them in alphabetical order, because that felt easiest. Some of the posts are overall reviews of locations and some are specific to an attraction in a location.

We do have a lot of travel posts on Drugstore Divas, but the ones listed below are what we consider “kid friendly” trips. So you won’t see Las Vegas on that list (although it’s one of my favorite places to vacation).

Northeast

South

Northwest

Have you put together a vacation journal with your kids? Let us know about it in the comments.