Make a Family Post Office

 

We don’t live very close to anyone in our family. We get to see grandmas and grandpas and cousins every now and then, but not nearly enough. My 3-year-old loves writing letters and drawing pictures. She is always asking for an envelope and a stamp so she can send her picture to Grandma or an uncle or cousin.

So, I decided to put together a Family Post Office. It was simple to do and I love that the kids can see their cousins and grandparents and send them letters more easily now! Here’s how we did it…

1. Print a Cover

• I found a 1” binder we already had and printed out a cover and side thingy  
• I love free printables, so if you’d like to use the same cover and spine label, just click HERE to download!

2. Add a pencil pouch

• Snap a pencil pouch right inside the front cover.
• Put big and little envelopes in the pouch.
• Add several different stamps.

3. Add paper and cards!

• Fill the left front pocket with blank paper and some different blank cards the kids can pick from.

 

4. Address Pages

• Find a picture of each family/person in our family.
• Add their address on the right side (mine are blurred out, but they’re there!)
• NOTE: I love that if the address changes, I can update and just print out that one page.
• Put the pages in plastic page protectors.

5. Back Cover

• On the back cover, I taped an envelope with a “How-To” address the front and where to put the stamp.
• There’s a little sticky note pad at the bottom … sometimes my 3 or 5-year-old will tell me what they want to say and I’ll write it out for them so they can copy it.

7. That’s it! … For now, it sits on the counter by our tin bucket filled with pencils, little scissors and a stapler. My kids know they can use these anytime they want to. They are quite the little creators.

8. Mail your letters!

• The last thing my kids do after they address the envelope and put a stamp on is to run it out to the mailbox and put the flag up.
• So exciting! Especially when the mailman brings a letter back to them!

Mail

• Use an empty box to make a mailbox. Hang it outside of each bedroom. Provide paper, crayons, pencils, envelopes, stickers (stamps) for the kids to write letters to each other.
• Make a special thank you card for your mailman and leave it in the mailbox for him or her!
• Ask grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, & friends to mail letters to your kids this week (see letters post). Ask them to write your preschooler’s name on the envelope. My 3-year-old LOVED getting mail with his name that he could read on the front. **If they didn’t make it in time for "letter" week, they will work this week for “mail"!
• Write a letter back, address it, stamp it, then take it to the post office to mail it.

• Read "The Jolly Postman" by Janet & Allan Ahlberg … a very cute book about a postman who delivers real letters (they actually open up and you can take them out and read them!) to all of the fairy tale and nursery rhyme creatures.
• Cut pictures out of magazines or ads and glue onto index cards. Write each family member's name on an envelope. Let the kids choose a card to "send" to someone. Deliver to their mailboxes. Open & see what you received!

Letters

Letters are so fun to get in the mailbox!

• A week or two before L week, ask your family and friends to write letters to your preschooler and have them sent to arrive during L week.
• I usually email everyone the week before and we have several letters arrive throughout the next week from grandmas, aunts, cousins and friends. It is so much fun to see the excitement of receiving letters.
• Of course, we learn how to write a letter back (or draw pictures and sign our names). Then it’s fun to let my 3-year-old fold the letter himself, put the stamp on the envelope, add a return address label and put it out in the mailbox with the flag up.

NOTE: the great thing is, if the letters arrive too late, they still work as MAIL for M week!
TIP: Anytime I sign up for free samples or things like that, I put one of my kid’s names on it. So when it comes in the mail, they get to take turns getting something extra special. They love getting mail!