Write a Letter of Appreciation
by Neighborhood-Kids.com3/4/2008 4:52:02 PM
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When the bulk of daily mail seems to be bills and unsolicited flyers, it’s easy to forget how much fun it can be to get a personal, hand-written note in the mail from a friend or relative. And kids are a great example of the pure joy and unrestrained emotions that bubble up when they get something in the mail, whether it’s a subscription to a magazine, like “Your Big Backyard”, or a birthday card.
Writing letters of appreciation is great for skills-practice and it reminds them to value others.
The only thing that’s as fun as receiving mail is sending it. So during National Write a Letter of Appreciation Week, plan a time with your kids to write thank-you letters to special people in their lives. It’s a great opportunity to demonstrate gratefulness while practicing handwriting and vocabulary, and creativity too.
Who to appreciate.
It makes sense to think of people who love and care for your child, day in and day out. Teachers, coaches, and babysitters are with your children for a significant amount of time each day, and it’s nice for them to remember that the work they do is a demanding and complicated occupation; nurturing and caring for growing children is one of the most important commitments a person can make.
But don’t forget to thank the less visible people in your family’s life, like bus drivers, school custodians, and clerks at your local grocery store; try to think of someone to thank who does little things in your neighborhood and for the larger community. And it’s never a bad idea to send a note to playmates and neighbors, letting them know much your child values their friendship.
An acrostic poem is easy to write and can describe to your friends what you like about them.
What to write.
There are lots of ways to “write” a letter. You can help your child learn how to compose a “formal” letter, in the proper format. This can also be a chance to help your child learn some “fancy” words that are synonyms for “regular words” (like esteemed for admired or cordiality for kindness).
Or you can be a little more creative. Maybe try using the letters in a friend’s name to write an acrostic poem. Write the recipient’s name in capital letters vertically, and then write a word or phrase that begins with each letter in their name to describe that person (see image).
And if younger kids aren’t quite at the letter-forming stage yet, they can draw pictures to describe the things they appreciate about special friends, or draw a picture of a specific time that the two of them spent together that was important to the child. To make the project a little more special, you might want to plan a trip to a local scrapbook and craft store, like Stampadoodle. Let the kids can pick out some special paper, markers, or stickers to use to decorate their letter.
How it’ll get there.
Another fun project can be making envelopes to send your letter in. You can use a plain envelope as a template. Just (carefully) unfold the glued parts, and trace the outline on paper of your choosing. Cut the outline, fold it to match the folds of the original envelope, and use a glue stick to glue the edges down.
Making your own envelopes can give your correspondence a personal touch.
It can also be a fun experience for kids to drop off the letter in a public mailbox. You could even let them pick out and buy the stamp for their letter at your local post office; you might have to wait in line for awhile, depending on the time of day you make your visit, but you could always take that time to talk about geography or explain how all the different parts of the address are needed to help a letter arrive at the correct destination.
And if you like, you can always let your child hand-deliver the letter too. Right away, they will see how their kind words have touched the individual, which will hopefully inspire them to continue being a person who appreciates other, at all times of the year.