Let’s bring back summer pen pals! Remember Tom Hanks’ and Meg Ryan’s romantic comedy You’ve Got Mail? Long before that movie, seven-year-old me would get excited every time my mom come back from the mailbox waving an envelope saying those same words to me. “Andrea… you’ve got mail!”
Yes, I’m old enough to remember snail mail. And I loved getting it.
Now that summer break is here, we often find ourselves on the lookout for activities that keep children engaged and connected during the time away from school. Need a new old-fashioned idea? Try a pen pal. Summer pen pals are a fun way to foster friendships, learn about other cultures, and keep writing skills sharp during the break.
THE BENEFITS OF PEN PALS
- Strengthen Writing Skills: Writing to a pen pal provides kids with a real-world opportunity to practice their writing. They can share stories, exchange opinions, and ask questions, all while developing their language and communication skills.
- Foster Empathy: Corresponding with a pen pal helps children understand different lives and experiences. Long-lasting friendships can emerge from these interactions.
- Cultivate Global Awareness: Pen pals give children a chance to connect with kids from different cultures, backgrounds, and even countries. Through these connections, they gain new perspectives and start to develop global citizenship.
Even Forbes thinks pen pals are a good idea. You can READ THEIR ARTICLE HERE including information about a sweet pen pal program called Soldiers’ Angels. It’s an initiative that invites kids to write to deployed military service members who don’t receive much mail from home. (Give me two seconds to go find some tissues.)
WHERE TO FIND PEN PALS
If you don’t feel comfortable or safe finding a pen pal online, I hear you. When I was little, my summer pen pals were usually cousins who lived in other states. And sometimes, they were my friends who lived on the other side of town.
A pen pal doesn’t have to be a person we don’t know living in an exotic country on the other side of the planet. It just has to be a person who is equally willing to write back and forth throughout the summer. To get started, we recommend a grandparent, a fun aunt or uncle, or any family member who lives in another city, state, or country.
You can find more ideas in this article by Mighty Kids Academy, THE BEST PLACES TO FIND PEN PALS FOR YOUR KIDS.
PRETTY PAPER
My grandmother kept me stocked with tons of stationery when I was little. I can still picture the cardboard boxes filled with colorfully lined paper and matching envelopes, all tied up with a satin ribbon. (This is a little nerdy and probably something only girls did, but I used to spray my letters with perfume. Did anyone else do that too?)
You can still find stationery sets today. I like them for children because they make writing to a pen pal feel a little more special. These STATIONERY SETS FOR KIDS are a good place to begin… maybe even some FUN STICKERS because, you know… envelope glue is gross.
If you want some simple, budget-friendly PEN PAL TEMPLATES you can print and reprint all summer long, check these out. The set includes wide and narrow-ruled paper with cute summer images kids can trace and color to personalize.
BOOKS ABOUT LETTER WRITING
Whether you’re a parent, a teacher, or both, you might have noticed that your children’s letter writing skills are a little rusty. The last time they wrote letters may have been months ago in school and, since we don’t write letters often, they may have forgotten what that looks like. These are some of our favorite books that have fun examples of letters embedded within the text.
- Dear Mr. Blueberry
- I Wanna Iguana
- The Jolly Postman
- Letters from Felix
- Click, Clack, Moo… Cows That Type
- Dear Mrs. LaRue
Happy summer!!
MORE SUMMER FUN
