Between the ages of 6-13 or so, I had more diaries than I could count. Ryan said he had several journals as a young kid as well. Traditional journals are a great way for kids to express themselves. Journal buddies takes the traditional journal idea and makes it a step better, by not only allowing kids to express themselves and reep the benefits of a traditional journal, but they also get a bit of a self esteem boost. Each journal entry includes four parts. For each entry the child is suppose to pick a buddy. It could be a friend, a sibling, a neighbor, anyone. The first section of each entry is a daily quote, which is basically suppose to get your child thinking about a specific idea, and they are usually inspirational ones. The second part is a fill in the blanks area, where the child’s buddy lists three compliments, or three character traits that they like about the child. I like this section the most. I am still friends with kids I became friends with in first grade. We obviously had a great bond from the very beginning. However, I don’t remember ever telling my friends why I liked them, or what they meant to me until we were in high school. Children’s friends can be really important to them and it’s great that this encourages them to share their feelings about each other. It’s also great to hear compliments from siblings, parents, etc. Who doesn’t love compliments? Sometimes we get too wrapped up in life and forget to specifically tell kids what we like about them and why they are special to us, but it can really mean a lot. So I think that section is great. The third section is a focus word, meant to inspire thought, or perhaps to even inspire a journal entry. The fourth section is blank space, for either a written journal entry, drawing, or just about any other form of self expression. These pages are open to be used as your child wishes, for just drawing, for drawing out a story, or for writing a story or diary entry. Overall I think they are a great way to encourage your child to feel good about themselves. Journal buddies are aimed at children ages 7-12 and come in two types, one for girls and one for boys.

Buy it: Journal buddies can be purchased online at journalbuddies.com for 15.25.

Win it: One of my readers will win either the boy or girl journal buddies!

To enter: MANDATORY: Visit journalbuddies.com and tell me one thing you learned.

Extra entries: Only count if the mandatory entry is completed. Leave proof of your entry whenever possible. Leave each entry in its own comment.

Entries:
1)Follow my blog thru blogger/Google friend connect. 2 entries.
2)Subscribe to me via email or RSS/feedburner – 2 entries for each.
3)Display my regular button on your blog – 3 entries.
4)Follow @emilyreviewscom  on twitter. 1 entry.
5)Fan me on facebook. 1 entry.
6)Tweet about this giveaway including @emilyreviewscom, a SHORTENED link to this post and #giveaway. Make yours or use mine ”Enter to #win a girls or boys journal buddies from @Boosandrawrs. #giveaway is here http://tinyurl.com/2dr4kgy please RT” Max of 1 per day. 1 entry per tweet.
7)Blog about this giveaway. 4 entries.
8)If you had the holiday gift guide button before the event started – 3 entries
9)Enter any of my other giveaways during the duration of this giveaway – 1 per giveaway entered
10)If you have my holiday gift guide button – 2

This giveaway is open to the US and will end December 13th at noon EST. Winner will be chosen via random.org and will have 2 days to reply before a new winner will be selected.

Disclaimer – I received a free journal buddies for the purposes of this review. No other form of compensation was offered or accepted. All opinions are my own.