The write start - Jennifer Hallissy 2010

Postcards
Guidelines for the Activities

WHO SAYS you have to be on vacation to send a postcard? Any time you feel like saying, “Wish you were here” (or “Wish I was there,” as the non-vacation version may read), a postcard fits the bill.

Postcards are a simple, carefree way to get kids into the regular habit of correspondence. Just have them write a couple of lines on a card, address it, stick on a stamp, and it’s ready to go. They’re also super-easy to customize with drawings and photos.

And even better, postcards are the cheapest kind of mail to send (you can get special postcard-rate stamps at the post office). With all the pennies you’ll be pinching by sending postcards, maybe you can start saving up for that next vacation. (I got you thinking about it, didn’t I?)

MATERIALS

∗ card stock (or blank, unlined four-by-six-inch index cards)

∗ postcard template (see “Postcard” in the templates section)

∗ scissors

∗ crayons, markers, colored pencils, stickers, stampers

∗ pencil

∗ postcard stamps

∗ blank address labels

∗ glue stick

HOW-TO

1. Print the postcard template onto card stock (one side will be blank; the other will be for writing on). Cut it out.

2. Show your children how to put their personal touch on the blank side of a postcard by drawing, coloring, doodling, stamping, or stickering it.

3. On the flip side of the postcard, children can write their message on the left and the recipient’s address on the right.

4. Then place a postcard stamp, and it’s ready to go. (Repeat for everyone you know!)

Variations

For Scribblers: Pre-writers can scribble on the blank side of a card, and then dictate a short message to you to write on the flip side.

For Spellers: Encourage emerging writers to draw a picture on the blank side of the postcard, and have them write a short sentiment on the flip side. Make some labels with the addresses of friends and family for Spellers to put on their postcards (it will be tricky for them to write the addresses themselves, in such a small space).

For Storytellers: Give Storytellers a contact list of their friends and family member’s addresses, a small address book, or a simple card file. Then they can churn out postcards all on their own!

For Scholars: Scholars can learn to turn almost anything into a postcard: photos, pictures from magazines, photocopies of pictures from books, or artwork of their own. They simply need to adhere the postcard very thoroughly to the back of their chosen image with a glue stick, and then let it dry. Then they can write their message, address the postcard, add a stamp, and send it. They’ll love finding things that have postcard potential.