4 Simple Ways to Document Childhood Memories for Your Kids
Something I have always been passionate about is memory keeping. Growing up, I would collect old birthday cards and letters from friends in a box in my bedroom. I’d store old papers and school work in file folders and find opportunities to frame meaningful momentos like concert tickets and wristbands. I loved the idea that these items were physical representations of my lived experience and that the mere sight of them could conjure up a specific memory from my life. Over the years, I’ve become much more simplistic in my memory-keeping approach and have learned to let go of a lot of the physical things, but I haven’t lost the passion to document special memories. In fact, since starting our family, it’s only become all the more important to me.
As any parent would tell you, we simply cannot do it all. How I’d love to meticulously document every little detail of my daughters’ lives, but the reality is that nobody has time for that. Through a few years of trying various systems, I think I’ve found the sweet spot of keeping those precious memories alive while also being realistic with the time and effort I have available in this busy season of parenthood. I’d never want to miss out on making the actual memories because I’m so caught up in how perfectly I can document them. That’s not to say that these ideas would work well for everyone - maybe you’d find my ideas too fussy for yourself - but I wanted to share what I’ve been doing in the hopes that it will inspire you to at least just start keeping your kids' memories, regardless of how you go about doing it.
Here’s what I’ve tried -
01. A Prompted Journal
This is by far my favourite childhood memory keeping tool. If I only had the capacity to do one thing, this would be it. I purchased one of these Childhood History Journals for each of my girls and fill in the prompts as we hit each milestone. This particular journal brushes over their entire childhood from your pregnancy through their 18th birthday, covering a lot of detail at each month milestone of their first year and then shifting to yearly prompts with each birthday. Every milestone marker covers a few key details about their development at that stage as well as an open writing spot for you to share some thoughts or reflections and one photo. I love that it will be completed when they turn 18, at which point I can give them each their book to keep for the rest of their lives.
Here’s my favourite thing about this memory keeping tool - it’s all laid out for you. You don’t have to do any thinking about what is significant to document or spend tons of time gathering and arranging photos. It’s as simple as it comes. You simply answer the prompts and paste in a single photo and you will have a beautiful overview of their entire childhood experience by the time they become an adult. If you need a reminder to fill it in, you can simply resolve to complete each milestone marker on their actual birthday and I can guarantee it will only take a maximum of 30 minutes per year to fill out. Easy as pie.
If you like this idea, I highly recommend the Childhood History Journal from Promptly Journals. They may seem a little pricey, but I can assure you that it is intentionally designed, easy to use, and has a timeless look. If you find you enjoy this format of memory keeping, there are other types of prompted childhood journals you can consider using too. I have one of these Funny Things You Say journals to document the hilarious thoughts, questions, and stories that come out of their little mouths and would one day consider trying a Parent-Child Connection Journal once my kids are able to write.
02. Birthday Letters
When I was pregnant with my oldest daughter, we had a few scares in our pregnancy and I found myself working through my worry by writing letters in a blank journal to my unborn baby. I only had a couple of entries from pre-birth, but I found the otherwise blank journal in my desk a few months after her safe arrival and decided I’d continue to add to it once she turned one. I found it incredibly therapeutic to take a few moments in the evening of her first birthday to write her a special letter outlining how much both she and I had changed over that first year. As a result, I pulled it out again on her second birthday and again on her third and this year will be her fourth.
If you do a prompted journal like I mentioned above, you technically could write a yearly birthday letter within those pages. But if you aren’t interested in completing a fully prompted journal for your child, writing birthday letters is an easy and affordable alternative. All you need is a blank journal that you can designate to each specific child and then pull it out once a year to write them a special message. A few ideas to reflect on in your yearly letter:
What were some of your child’s significant moments from the past year?
What do you notice are some of their interests, talents, skills and/or strengths?
What do you want to remember about them at this age?
What is something they taught you at this stage/age?
What do you wish for them as they continue to grow?
Even though I do the prompted journals now, I still continue writing birthday letters. It barely takes any time to write but allows me the opportunity to process my experience of being their mom and encourages me to be intentional about noticing their growth and development each year. This is also something you could continue doing through your child’s entire life or up until a specific moment or marker that you find significant (like graduating from college, getting married, or having their own children).
03. Capture a Season with 1 Second Everyday
This next idea is perfect for anyone who isn’t keen on writing. The 1 Second Everyday app is a simple way to document your child’s life on a micro day-to-day level. Once you download the application on your phone, you simply film a one second video clip each day and it automatically saves and compiles them into a video. You can export the video at any time and specifically choose the range of dates, making this option incredibly versatile in how you choose to use it.
I used the 1 Second Everyday app for the first year of my oldest daughter’s life, from the day she was born through her first birthday. I managed to capture a clip every single day and at the end of it all, I exported a beautiful five minute long video representing her entire first year. Three years later, I still cry every time I watch it because it shows her literal growth over the year in such a visually succinct way. When my next daughter was born just a couple of months ago, I started the same process to document her first year in the same way.
I cannot stress how easy this option is. How many of us have our phones on hand every day anyways and it only takes a matter of seconds to film and upload your daily clip. It does require some thought to remember to capture it, but you can easily set up notifications to remind you and I found that once I got into the habit, it was easier to remember anyways. You can also opt to use it for just a season of their life (a special vacation, a season of their sports, their first month of kindergarten, etc) or you may enjoy this format so much that you end up capturing their entire childhood. At the very least, give the free version of the app a try and see what you think.
04. A Keepsake Box
This one may seem obvious, but creating a specific spot to keep any sentimental momentos for each child is such an easy and impactful way to keep their memories. When my oldest daughter started bringing home artwork from daycare, I went to Walmart and purchased a big clear plastic bin to specifically store some of her creations in. We keep the bin in storage in our basement, but every now and then, I pop down there with a new pile of her crafts and school papers to add in.
This idea requires barely any effort at all other than sorting through their endless crafts and deciding what feels significant enough to keep. Some things I’ve managed to save include some of my daughter’s first drawing marks, crafts we’ve made together, and sentimental notes she’s written for me or my husband. Before adding anything to the bin, I try to write her age on the back of it so we can remember when it was added. As any toddler parent would know, the paper crafts and drawings are endless at this stage, so I try my best to weed through and only save the things that truly feel significant, but I’m excited for when she's a little bit older and can decide for herself what she wants to save. We will likely add school report cards and/or projects, artwork, and various certificates she collects over the years.
In terms of the box you use, you could go for a more aesthetic option like this box or this one or you could go for a more utilitarian option like me. Either way, I do recommend using a box with a lid and something you can grow into as your special items pile up.
Childhood History Journals in Dusty Rose and Sand // Funny Things You Say Journal // Blank Journals in Leather and Sage // 1 Second Everyday app // File Storage with Lid (2-Pack) // File Storage with Leather Pull Tab // Black Storage Box with Lid // Clear Plastic Storage Bin // Storage Bin with Fold Over Lid
As a final note, I want to take a moment to recognize that perfection should not be your goal. Documenting some memories is better than documenting no memories. If you feel discouraged that you haven’t started and maybe missed out on documenting some of your child’s experience, give yourself some grace and don’t let that discourage you from starting now. I personally didn’t purchase the prompted Childhood History Journals for my girls until my oldest was nearly four and I had to backtrack on some of her milestone markers. There are many blank spaces in those early milestones because I simply don’t remember the details, but I’m trusting that the efforts I’ve made from that point forward will be worthwhile and enjoyable for her to reflect on one day. I wanted to mention that in case you feel discouraged and like you’ve already missed your chance. This is my reminder to you that you haven’t. Just start now.
I hope this has inspired you to find some simple ways to document your kids’ childhood memories. It’s never too late to get started. Do you have any memory keeping methods you’ve tried that you would recommend? Leave your ideas in the comments below!
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