SIMPLE MEMORY PROJECT IDEAS TO TRY WITH YOUR KIDS

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I realized a little too late that my son was growing up too fast. Time slipped by whilst I was busy working and trying to do everything else all at the same time. Time spent with him was well spent but just not enough. So many milestones throughout his life were celebrated, and celebrated well, but was it documented enough?

I have a whole wall in my living room with photos of my son that reflects a lot of the different phases of his life when he was younger (you'd literally think it was a shrine!), a whole box of keepsakes from his baby days, notes that he's ever left me, paintings and handmade mother's day cards that I still cherish. But are they all enough? No, they are not!

I wish I had done more - done more with my son to document the different milestones or even document a regular day in the life. Though I have memories, I would have liked for those memories to be translated into tangible items that I could, every now and then, look back at them and bawl my eyes out!

I wish I had, at least written down every date of every little thing that happened - in a little (or big) book of special moments. I wish I had come across some article or someone who had told me that I'd regret it if I didn't. I wish I hadn't let life get in the way of what I realized only a little too late, was actually important. I wish a lot of things.

The good thing is that you do not have to share my regrets. I want to tell you that if your kids are still young, all the things you do with them now truly do matter not only now, but even in twenty years when they are all grown.

Memories play a big part in shaping our lives, and there's something special about creating projects or something that truly captures the essence of these moments we spend with our kids. Memory projects offer a way to preserve time that reminds us of small, and big moments. Plus, it's time well spent creating them with our kids.

Whether it's a scrapbook, a piece of art, a photo album, or a song playlist, a memory project is about preserving these moments and memories so you and your kids can look back on them together, years from now.

What is a Memory Project

A memory project is basically an activity that helps you capture and preserve your experiences with your kids.

It's common nowadays to record videos to capture the true essence of every experience and moment. Memory projects go beyond that. It can involve any medium – written words, drawings, small keepsakes, or whatever feels right for the memories you're making.

Memory projects are all about making memories tangible, and like videos, can be viewed and remembered for years to come.

The best part is, that these memory projects don't have to be fancy or complicated. They are easy to do at home and it gives you an excuse to spend quality time with your kids. If you’re looking for a way to keep those special memories alive, here are 15 ideas to get you started.

15 Memory Project Ideas To Do With Your Kids

1 – Memory Jar

A memory jar is a fun and easy project that the whole family can participate in.

Take a clear jar, label it "Memory Jar" along with the year, and place it somewhere accessible.

Whenever something memorable happens, write it down on a slip of paper and add it to the jar. It can be anything from a fun day out, a joke your kids told, or something new your kid learned.

At the end of the year, sit down together and read through the notes. It's simple but a powerful way of looking back on the little things that made your year special.

You'll probably end up with a lot of jars – but does it really matter? I don't think so.

2 – Storybook Journal

A storybook journal is an absolutely beautiful way to capture your kid's thoughts and stories in their own words and their unique little perspective of things.

Let them tell you stories about their favorite part of a certain day, things that made them laugh, or moments that they remember vividly. These are a great way of capturing your kids' memories in a way only they can describe. Each story can be a chapter in their childhood or you can structure it however you like.

With today's technology, you can make it into a video, or an audio or even get them to write down these stories themselves if they're old enough.

This journal becomes more and more precious over time because it documents how your kids see and interpret the world around them at that particular moment. Once they're older, they'll get a kick looking back at their own stories and reflecting on those memories.

3 – Yearly Family Calendar

Wouldn't it be fun to have your own handmade customized family calendar? It does sound cool, doesn't it?

On blank calendars that you can print out with a quick Google search (or you can get this), choose your favorite family photo for each month and add it to the calendar. Let your kids decorate each page with doodles or stickers and add notes on birthdays, anniversaries, or any special occasions.

At the end of the year, save the calendar as a keepsake.

Over time, you'll have a collection of yearly calendars that not only show your family photos but also all the important events from each year!

4 – Vacation Keepsake Box

We know how each family vacation and trip holds special memories in our lives. A keepsake box will help you preserve those memories and experiences.

For each trip, choose a small box and encourage everyone to collect something small to remind them of their trip. It could be anything from shells from the beach, maps, hotel key cards, photos, or even a rock taken from a hike.

Don't forget to label each box with the location and date and store them safely.

On family nights or anytime, really, you can pull out these boxes and re-live those experiences with the whole family.

5 – Family Scrapbook

Creating a family scrapbook can be a fun activity with your kids. It's really nice looking through photos and keepsakes collected over time and seeing what your kids remember from them.

Do you know that box or drawer full of photos, ticket stubs, postcards, and small keepsakes from your family outings or special occasions? Well, take them all out so you can create a family scrapbook from them.

For starters, you need to get a blank scrapbook. Your kids can help by gluing items, decorating the pages with their own drawings, and even writing titles and captions. They'll love the fact that they're contributing to a very personal and special family project.

This scrapbook can be an ongoing project with pages added on for each season, holiday, year, or special occasion.

With time, you'll have a visual history of all your shared experiences. I love to think it's something my son could share with his kids and his kid's kids and so on as long as the scrapbook still holds up!

6 – Memory Quilt

We've seen these memory quilts before and personally, I think it's a lovely way to repurpose old clothing that holds special meaning.

We've all got that stash of our kid's clothes that they've outgrown but will always hold a special place in our hearts. It can be their baby clothes, baby blanket, favorite sports jersey, beanie, the tutu or Spiderman suit that they insisted on wearing everywhere.

I know I take out the ones I've saved every now and then just to reminisce.

What better way to capture all these pieces than to put them all together as a memory quilt. Each patch on the quilt becomes a reminder of a certain stage in your family's life which you can quite literally cuddle up with. It's a project that might take some time, but the result is definitely worth it.

And if sewing is not your thing, there are online services that can do this for you.

7 – Gratitude Jar

A gratitude jar is a wonderful way to teach kids the importance of gratitude as well as reflection.

Every week, have your kids write down one thing they are grateful for on a slip of paper and add it to the jar. At the end of the year or on any day of your choice, open the jar and read each note together.

This particular activity helps our kids focus on the positive moments in their lives, and it can become a powerful and uplifting family tradition.

These notes are easy to keep in a box or can be added to a scrapbook as a memory of the little things that make your year meaningful.

8 – Journal Swap

This might just be one of my favorites.

A journal swap is a fun project that combines writing with a little bit of mystery.

Each week or month, have a journal that gets passed between family members. Whoever has it can write about anything they want. A funny memory, something exciting or sad that happened, or even a few doodles. The entries can be as long or as short as they want. Then it gets passed on to the next family member to add their own entry.

This journal will fill up with everyone's thoughts and experiences and will eventually turn out to be like a family diary and it'll be a fun surprise to see what each person shares along the way.

9 – Birthday Interview Book/Video

Each year on your kid's birthday, sit down with them and ask them a set of questions. These can be the same questions every year to see how their answers evolve, or you can change the questions as they grow.

Questions like "What's your favorite thing to do?" or "What do you look forward to?" will allow you to capture snapshots of their personality as they grow.

You can record their answers in a special book or journal, along with a photo of them each year.

Alternatively, you can still do this in video format, which is probably going to be the favorite way.

Either way, it'll be fascinating looking back at who they were at different ages and how they've grown.

10 – Monthly Photo Collage

Creating a monthly photo collage helps you capture the essence of your family life over the whole year.

Take pictures of your family throughout the month on your walk, hike, trip to the park, the supermarket, family movie or game night, a special occasion or even sending the kids off to school - it can be anything you choose.

At the end of the month, your whole family gets to choose the winning photo and you print it out. You can frame them or put them in a scrapbook. Decide on a caption and write it down together with the month and year. By the end of the year, you'll have a snapshot of all the seasons, activities, and special moments you experienced together.

This project is a year-long project and gives you and your kids something to look forward to every month.

11 – Family Recipe Book

If your family has favorite recipes, recipes passed down for generations, or dishes that you're quite famous for, you can turn them into a memory-filled cookbook.

In a scrapbook or blank recipe book, let your kids help by drawing illustrations of the dishes, writing down what they think about the dish, or just decorating the pages.

You can further personalize this recipe book by including stories behind the recipes.

This family recipe book idea not only lets you compile your family's recipes all in one place, but it also creates something that can be passed down for generations.

12 – Nature Memory Book

If you're a family who loves spending time outdoors, a nature memory book can be a special memory project for you.

When you go on walks, hikes, or camping, you can get your kids to collect small items like leaves, flowers, small pebbles or rocks, or even feathers.

Back at home, they can glue these items into a scrapbook or journal and write down the date, where they found them, who was with them, and other details from the outing. Add some photos as well.

A nature memory book allows you to record all your family adventures outdoors and it's something tangible you can hold on to for many years to come.

13 – Milestone Video Diary

This one is quite simple to do just with your phone.

Start recording short videos during special occasions, or even moments on any regular day. You can capture your kid's thoughts on their first day of school, last day of school, milestone birthdays, on a family trip, passing a test, getting their driver's license, or even a quiet Sunday at home - the options are endless!

Over time, compile these clips into a video diary which can easily be done on your phone too.

Watching it years later will bring back all the emotions and details that photos alone won't be able to capture.

Warning - watching these videos many years after will probably end up with you shedding some happy, sad tears as your heart swells!

14 – Family Soundtrack Playlist

Music has a way of transporting us to a time and place in our past lives and nobody can deny this.

Creating a family playlist - each of your family members can contribute a couple or more, and it doesn't matter what genre it is and that's the beauty of it! It can be anything from Livin' on a Prayer to Frozen or Baby Shark. Whatever songs contributed reflects your own family. It is your family's own personal playlist.

You can create a playlist for every year or a single one that gets added on to - it's up to you. Either way, you get to see how your kid's taste in music evolves, and playing the playlist on a random night is a great excuse to have a dance party in the living room.

Think of it as your family soundtrack.

15 – Holiday Ornament Collection

Holiday ornaments often have a special place in family traditions, and creating or collecting a new one each year is a lovely way to build memories.

You can get your kids to make a new ornament each holiday or collectively choose one from the store that captures something about that year.

Make sure to label each ornament with the date and a note.

And as you and your kids decorate the tree each year, these ornaments will be your little reminders of the years and moments gone by. It's something quite special.

Memory projects are more than just keepsakes; they are a way to connect with your kids, make the most of the time spent with them, and capture the small moments that make life with them special.

Whether you try one of these ideas or make your own twist on them, each project is totally worth trying. It's about capturing life and preserving it as something tangible.

And when time has passed and the kids are grown, looking back, you won't regret creating these memory projects when you did.