As I Grow

As I Grow is a child-owned, family-led, inclusive record for capturing life as it unfolds. It is a living record of childhood, created gradually through memories, photos, drawings, letters, keepsakes, reflections and everyday moments. It gives children, families, carers and trusted people a way to record life while it is being lived, rather than trying to piece the story together later. Designed for birth families, foster families, adoptive families, kinship carers, guardians and the practitioners who support them, As I Grow creates space for identity, belonging, culture, relationships, feelings, celebrations, ordinary days and future hopes. Younger children can colour, doodle, paste pictures and enjoy the process. Older children and young people can journal, reflect and add their own voice. Families can include photos, recipes, traditions, school memories, family sayings, letters from loved ones, and the small moments that might otherwise be forgotten. This is not a report, assessment, therapy file or traditional professional-led life story project. It is a gentle, practical and meaningful way to help children and families build a record of childhood in real time. A child’s story is not simply what adults say happened to them. It is how they felt, experienced, and made sense of their own life.