Inspired by our Olivia's Pen Pal story card, I wanted to try a preschool pen pal exchange, to see what NJ would think of the experience. She already LOVES getting mail, so I thought this would be something fun to try.
So far, our pen pal exchange is exceeding my expectations, and has led to all kinds of exploration - learning about new places in the world, practicing our printing, learning how to address a letter, and more!
We have exchanged letters with two other four year olds (between Canada and the US). Obviously, writing a letter is hard at this age, so I created an easy-to-use letter writing template for kids, which our Petit Mail subscribers received in the envelope with their story card, to share some simple details like name, age, where I live, my favourite thing, etc. We also cut out a photo, so got in some scissor cutting practice as well.
I love the template, and the experience, so much, that I'm giving you the letter writing template for free. Sign-up below to receive your template. You can print it out as many times as you would like.
To make the experience a little more educational, I added a hand-written note from me, telling a little bit more about our family, where we live, and the things we enjoy doing together.
Given that it is still WINTER, one of our letters got a little wet, and our package turned into a little bit of a rainbow, but that's ok, we are embracing the wild color combination.
NJ was so excited to read something from another little girl her own age, and our "mom notes" back and forth sparked even more engagement. We looked up Michigan on a map, and compared it to where we live in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Madelyn wondered about what it's like to live near the ocean
(quick answer: our ocean is COLD and often stormy, but it's still oh-so-beautiful) so our project for our next pen pal letter will be to find a nice day and to take some pictures (if we are REALLY lucky, we'll find a day to get our picture taken with an iceberg in the background as it's almost iceberg season when pieces of ice start to break off in the Arctic and float their way South).
Maybe we will also share some fun facts about animals that we find here, like Puffins and Whales.
To make the experience a little more educational, I added a hand-written note from me, telling a little bit more about our family, where we live, and the things we enjoy doing together.
Given that it is still WINTER, one of our letters got a little wet, and our package turned into a little bit of a rainbow, but that's ok, we are embracing the wild color combination.
NJ was so excited to read something from another little girl her own age, and our "mom notes" back and forth sparked even more engagement. We looked up Michigan on a map, and compared it to where we live in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Madelyn wondered about what it's like to live near the ocean
(quick answer: our ocean is COLD and often stormy, but it's still oh-so-beautiful) so our project for our next pen pal letter will be to find a nice day and to take some pictures (if we are REALLY lucky, we'll find a day to get our picture taken with an iceberg in the background as it's almost iceberg season when pieces of ice start to break off in the Arctic and float their way South).
Maybe we will also share some fun facts about animals that we find here, like Puffins and Whales.
Photo Credits: Les Petits Clarks and Blissfully Insane
