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Have you ever pulled out a pen and paper, but then asked yourself ‘what should I say to my grandkids?’ While there are many things your grandchildren would love receiving in the mail, we’re going to launch this conversation through the lens of Pen Pals!
Summertime Snail Mail
Summertime often takes my mind to some pretty vintage scenes.
Car rides with windows down, picnics on blankets, camping in the backyard, and sipping lemonade on the front porch.
Even though there is still much work to do, it feels like the pace slows just a little. And I often find myself thinking about how much I would love to enjoy these slower times with my grandkids.
One slow it down activity I’m implementing with my grandchildren this summer is snail mail. I’m looking forward to sharing four fun ways over the course of this month to utilize this most likely underutilized tool.
I’m kicking it off this week through the concept of pen pals and including some pen pal ideas to get us going!
Besides the desired benefit of nurturing our relationship with grandkids, having a pen pal benefits them in a number of other ways too!
Updated 2023: We have now been pen pals for TWO YEARS and use snail mail to connect consistently. I can not recommend it enough. When we first started we used these inexpensive pen pal templates. Now we use Over the River PLUS printables to connect consistently. Explore the different snail mail options and find what works for your family. It’s been an incredible relationship builder overtime and is the easiest way to maintain consistency.
Benefits of Pen Pals
Kathie, in her Tried and True Teaching Tools blog defines 5 benefits of penpals for students that I believe will cross over to grandkids.
- Reading & Writing Skills Improve as they learn to organize their thoughts and get then down on paper
- Pen Pals can help develop compassion and understanding of other cultures and values. While our culture and values may seem similar on the surface, this is an opportunity for people on both sides of this exchange to learn more about each other, understand what is important to each other, and also discover ways we are the same!
- Development of social skills – we can model what a reciprocal letter looks like. It’s not asking them lots of questions, and it’s not all about us either. Learning this skill through letter writing will transfer into so many other areas of life.
- Patience is another great benefit of letter writing. How many of us send off a text and then stare at our phones waiting for a reply? Katie shares “students experience the joy of anticipation and then the satifsying reward of getting something after a wait.”
- Develops a child’s curiosity. Our grandkids know where we live, but as we share things in a letter about our history, or our current adventures it can create in them a desire to know more.
We believe that consistency is so important in our long distance relationships with our grandkids. Being summer pen pals will definitely fit that criteria. Better yet, it’s accessible to everyone, and every age.
Getting Started With Templates
To get started you can definitely sit down and write a traditional letter, and we’ll be talking about letter writing in a couple of weeks. But we thought starting off with some super fun Pen Pal ideas including templates for various age groups would be fun!
You can simply print one out, have fun completing and mail. You’ll also want to send your grandchild their own blank copy (or several!), along with envelopes and stamps too!
Don’t forget about your daughter or daughter in law too! Nurturing the relationship with them is just as important as your grandchildren. Check out this post from Mothers Day that has postcards and notecards you can send all year long. A little bit of encouragement goes a long way!