My Draw-and-Write Journal

A short, repeating ritual in one special notebook the child returns to again and again. Each entry, the child draws something from their own life or imagination first — the picture carries the meaning — then adds a bit of writing: a label, a caption, or a sentence, by dictating, copying, or sounding words out. Over weeks the writing grows; the drawing never stops mattering.

  1. Pick one bound notebook that is the child’s. Add a name on the cover, a special pen, maybe stickers.
  2. Make a tiny ritual — “journal time” after dinner, a few times a week, 5–10 minutes only.
  3. The child draws first — anything: their day, a dream, a dinosaur, a feeling.
  4. Then add words. Ask “What should we write here?” Let them dictate (you scribe), copy a word, or sound it out themselves. One label is plenty at first.
  5. Date it, and re-read old entries together: “Remember this one?”
  6. Stop while it’s still fun.

Variation: make it a back-and-forth — you write one short question under their picture; they answer in the next entry.

Requirements

  • Space: Any flat spot — kitchen table, lap, or floor; indoors or out.
  • Surface: A hard table or lap desk to draw and write on.
  • Materials: One bound notebook kept just for this, plus pencil, crayons, or markers; optional stickers and a special pen.
  • Participants: 1 child + 1 adult to scribe and re-read; works solo for a confident writer.
  • Supervision: Low — sit alongside to scribe and chat, not to correct.

Rationale & Objective

Drawing is the developmental root of writing, not a detour from it: Elizabeth Sulzby’s classic scheme places drawing-as-writing at the start of a sequence that moves through scribble, letter-like units, letter strings, copied print, invented spelling, and finally conventional writing — and children fluidly mix earlier and later forms for years (Sulzby, 1985; Sulzby, Barnhart & Hieshima, 1989). Anne Haas Dyson’s research shows young children “weave” symbols — talk, drawing, and print together — so a picture plus the child’s own words is genuine composing, richer than words alone (Dyson, 1986). Noella Mackenzie’s work on the drawing-to-writing connection finds that children encouraged to treat drawing and writing as one meaning-making system produce more complex texts than those pushed straight to print. A regular, low-pressure journal is exactly the kind of authentic, repeated purpose that Head Start ELOF P-LIT 6 (“writes for a variety of purposes using increasingly sophisticated marks”) and Common Core W.K.2 and W.K.3 (“a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing”) describe. Dictation and copying are not cheating — the EYFS Writing ELG and Teaching Strategies GOLD Objective 19 both count scribed and guided writing, and the picture-with-caption is the standard assessment artifact. Re-reading past entries lets the child “read back” their own marks, the metacognitive move Sulzby studied directly. Because the bar is one entry of any length, the habit itself does the work of nudging a child up the forms over weeks. Honest framing — progress here is slow and zig-zag, and for a long stretch the drawing will lead and the writing will trail by a label or a letter; that is developmentally correct, not a delay, and the worst thing an adult can do is demand more print before the child is ready.

Progress Indicators

  • Early: Draws and talks at length about the picture; written marks are scribble or a random letter string; the adult scribes the caption the child dictates.
  • Developing: Adds a label or the first letter or sound of a key word; copies a short familiar word (a name, “mom”, “cat”); tells back what an old entry was about.
  • Proficient: Writes a short caption with invented or phonetic spelling a reader can mostly decode (e.g., “I saw a dg”); chooses some topics; needs help only with the hard words.
  • Advanced: Writes a sentence or two under the picture using mixed invented and conventional spelling; re-reads past entries fluently; picks topics independently and keeps the routine going on their own.

Safety Notes

  • Use age-appropriate, non-toxic pencils, crayons, or washable markers; supervise sharp pencils and keep small caps away from younger siblings.
  • Emotional safety first: never grade, score, red-pen, or “fix” spelling in the journal — it is the child’s, not a worksheet.
  • Never force an entry on a resistant day; a skipped day, or a drawing-only day, is a complete and acceptable entry.
  • Keep each sitting to 5–10 minutes and stop while interest is high to avoid fatigue and hand-tiredness.
  • Privacy: let the child decide what to draw and whether to share an entry with anyone else.
  • Watch for handwriting frustration — offer to scribe rather than letting a struggle sour the ritual.

Hints

  • Playfulness: Give it a “magic” pen or a rubber stamp, a cozy ritual (journal plus cocoa), or a special sticker the child adds when an entry is done.
  • Sustain interest: On stuck days offer a gentle prompt (“draw the best part of today”, or “draw something you wish existed”), follow the child’s current obsession (trucks, a pet, a game), and let some days be pure drawing.
  • Common mistake: Turning it into homework — demanding writing every single day, correcting invented spelling, or making the child finish a “real” sentence; this kills the habit fast.
  • Limited space / no equipment: Staple scrap paper into a booklet, or let the child draw and then record the caption as a phone voice memo as their “writing”.
  • Cross-domain: Bridges to visual arts, expressive language and narrative (telling the story aloud), fine-motor control, and emotional literacy (drawing how a day felt).
  • Progression: Start at draw-and-dictate → a single label → a caption with sound-spelling → a full sentence; and from once a week toward a few times a week or daily.

Sources

  • Sulzby, E. (1985). “Children’s emergent reading of favorite storybooks: A developmental study.” Reading Research Quarterly, 20(4), 458–481
  • Sulzby, E., Barnhart, J. & Hieshima, J. (1989). “Forms of writing and rereading from writing: A preliminary report.” In J. Mason (Ed.), Reading and Writing Connections. Allyn & Bacon
  • Dyson, A. H. (1986). “Transitions and tensions: Interrelationships between the drawing, talking, and dictating of young children.” Research in the Teaching of English, 20(4), 379–409
  • Mackenzie, N. M. (2011). “From drawing to writing: What happens when you shift teaching priorities in the first six months of school?” Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, 34(3)
  • Head Start ELOF — Goal P-LIT 6 (child writes for a variety of purposes using increasingly sophisticated marks)
  • US Common Core W.K.2 and W.K.3 (use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing)
  • UK EYFS Literacy — Writing ELG (write recognisable letters; spell words by identifying sounds; write simple phrases and sentences)
  • Teaching Strategies GOLD Objective 19 (demonstrates emergent writing skills): 19a writes name, 19b writes to convey meaning