Early Childhood Connections by Help Me Grow Utah by Kali Iverson—Community Liaison
As we all know the start of the New Year generally means new goals, new experiences, and a new sense of determination. For me and my family, it’s also a time to reflect on the past year and dream big for the year to come. We love to reminisce about the happy times, talk about how much we’ve grown because of the hard times, and smile at all the times that brought laughter to our lives.
We do a lot of fun and memorable things as a family, but sometimes they can get lost in the bustle of everyday life if we don’t record them. One of my personal goals this year is to record and focus on the good experiences I’ll have throughout the year.
I decided to create a memory jar to collect memories throughout the year. One of the reasons I chose this method is because it’s something my family and I can easily do together and it’s as easy as writing just a few sentences (great for all of us non-journal writers out there)! I found the instructions for the jar we made here
On our slips of paper, we decided we wanted to record things like
- Memories that make us smile or laugh
- Fun things we did as a family
- Experiences that we learn from
- Life lessons that others teach us
- Things that we accomplish, big or small
Doing something like this is a great way to get your children involved in keeping the history of your family. Make sure you help them record things that are important to them. I’m sure they will begin to love putting memories into the jar as much as they will love reading them at the end of the year!
Have any of you tried a memory jar before or something similar? How did it work for your family? We’d love to hear your thoughts!
Discovery Gateway: The Children's Museum of Utah Blog 