Importance of Gratitude

creative correspondence

Kids love receiving gifts and kindnesses. Less enjoyable can be the process of writing a note of gratitude for the gifts they love. Expressing their appreciation can be made fun, creative and systematic.

There are plenty of beautiful and fun styles of custom stationary that can be ordered. But kids may like to have a chance to customize their stationary themselves. Most of the stationary in this project is from Paper Source (http://www.paper-source.com/). These pieces are size A2.

There is a variety of colors in mat or pearlized finishes. They also have foldover notes, and flats with various edges. Papersource also sells sweet looking hearts that can be used to accent the correspondence.

Here’s “the system”:

1. Stock a box with favorite colors of stationary, ink pads and rubber stamp initials. Let the kids choose and design their own stationary.

2. Provide a list of the gifts and givers names with a box for kids to check off after the note is written.

3. Let them know the expectations (i.e. 4 sentences, spelled correctly, neatly written). A template of optional language can make it much easier for the young writer, here’s an example:

Dear ___________:

1) Thank you for the ____________.

2) I love it!, It’s just what I wanted., I’ve never seen anything like it!, I have always wanted one.

3) I especially like it because _________., It was very thoughtful of you., I’ll think of you every time I use it.

4) I hope you’re enjoying the nice spring weather., I hope to see you soon., It was great to see you at the party., Let it snow!

Closure: Sincerely, Love, Fondly…

4. Next, the stamp! There are a multitude of beautiful and fun stamps available on line from the US Postal Service (http://www.usps.com/).

Even better, using Picture It Postage on the US Postal Service site you can create custom stamps of the kids in action (and the dog)! Let the kids choose.

5. A return address stamp is fun and quick to use, Expressionary.com, has some great designs.

The kids will feel a sense of accomplishment when they put their colorful creations in the mailbox and flip up the flag. After awhile, thank you notes may become a fun routine in your family.

Do you find yourself wondering if your gift was received or not? A kit of nice paper, initial stamps, ink pads and postage stamps can make a great gift!

Comments

Renae says

March 10, 2009 at 1:36 am

I do enjoy writing notes…and taught my kids that if they enjoyed receiving gifts then they needed to respond in kind with a note of appreciation.
You posted on my site “calling all decorators” and I would love love love a picture of what you did in your entry! It sounds fabulous!

Shannon says

March 10, 2009 at 8:28 pm

I too have encouraged my children to write ‘notes of gratitude’ each birthday and Christmas after receiving a generous amount of gifts. These are fun, easy and creative. Thanks Emily!! I also LOVE the stamps!

DianneM says

March 10, 2009 at 11:50 pm

Thank you for the gentle admonishment. Your ideas are creative and beautiful. It is so important to instill the idea of gratitude in our children!