Thank You Notes
Writing Thank You cards is a task that is more manners than tradition. But it is slowly fading out. Parents can always text it or a phone call will usually suffice. I think Thank You cards are the perfect way to promote manners while practicing valuable skills. So this year we made snowflake cards with salt to spice things up.
You will need posterboard (or cardstock), glue, paint brush, pencil, marker, salt, scissors, and a tray or large flat bottom bowl.
Cut up your posterboard into smaller pieces that will be easier to mail.
Now write “Thank You” on the front and draw your snowflake. The simpler the better. If your child is writing then go ahead and let them do this.
Have your child write their name or draw the item they received on the back. Sometimes they might want to draw a heart or just doodle. That is okay. I tried to encourage my daughter to write her name, but she really doesn’t know how to yet. So her version of her name was just perfect. At least she tried and got some practice.
Let your child paint glue along the drawing of the snowflake. This where the simpler snowflake is very important.
Place the card inside the tray and have your child pour salt over it.
Be sure to cover the entire glue area with the salt. Shake off excess immediately.
Now let your snowflake dry. Your Thank You card is ready to mail!
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Kim is a contributing writer for No Time For Flash Cards, a mom to a toddler, a preschooler, and a foster parent, too. She juggles her day by trying out fun activities and crafts with the kids. After all, she is just a big kid herself. See what she has been up to over at Mom Tried It.
Activities are a great way to make a lesson about manners tangible, being polite is a hard thing to learn especially for young children, doing something concrete like making a thank you card will help them learn their manners !
- Gather your materials. You will need some card sock or some pre-folded note cards. I used one card for the art work and a second for the inside. You will also need something to decorate your card with, we chose the water color crayons I reviewed last week.
- Start decorating your card. The water color crayons were great because they make fun baby scribbles into art! The crayons were a little tough for my little guy to press hard enough so I drew the circles and he took care of the next step!
- Bring out the water and start painting!
- Let the card dry.
- When it’s dry you may have to stick a second card inside the painted one, my card was pretty warped from the water, but a second card taped in with double sided tape fixed all that!
- Write in your note but don’t forget to let your child include their signature!
” Booker and the Bully” by Marilyn Moscovitch tackles a touchy subject in schools these days and does it in s gentle way. The emotions Booker goes through being bullied really come through in the illustrations and young children will be able to identify them which will help them understand the story and topic.
” How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight” by Jane Yolen and Mark Teague is a beautifully illustrated story about the tantrums and dramatics that dinosaurs put their parents through at bedtime. I really like this book because it asks if dinosaurs do all these naughty things and kids love to point out what the dinosaurs shouldn’t be doing. Of course in the end the dinosaur s remember their manners and go to bed with hugs and kisses and the lights off!
