5 reasons the children in your life should write letters.
When is the last time you received a letter? Like an actual letter in the mail! And no - I’m not talking about the letter from your mobile phone provider informing you that it’s April and your monthly charge is about to go up.
In the age of social media, letters have become a scarce commodity. In fact, you’re probably wondering why anyone would go to the trouble of obtaining an actual stamp from the post office (or wherever you get your stamps) and write a letter to someone. However, letter writing is still one of my favourite activities. I have a few penpals, and despite the fact that we do chat on social media quite often, we still write each other letters.
And the other day, I received the cutest thank you letter from my nephew for the Christmas gift I sent him. I was so excited that the next generation of letter writers is off to a good start! But it also got me thinking about the benefits of letter writing - of putting actual pen to paper in a world where technology seems to have overtaken almost all forms of communication. And it particularly got me thinking about how those benefits apply to children!
So here are 5 reasons to encourage the children in your life to write a letter today!
Letter writers are reflectors. Letter writing can be a great source of reflection. Sitting in front of an empty page, and deciding what you want to share with someone can encourage children to reflect on their day, what they did and how it made them feel! And reflection is a great skill to build and nurture.
In addition, letters can almost act as a time capsule! When I read the letters that my godchildren wrote to me when they were little, it is like having a snapshot of what they were like at that age frozen in time. More than a photo, I am reminded of their personalities, what they were thinking about at that time, and what they were interested in. Even their letters where they made a request for something was a reminder to me of the child they once were - now that they are all grown up.
2. Letter writing can build empathy. By it’s very nature, writing someone a letter encourages children to think about the person they are writing to. What might that they might be interested in hearing about? Are there any questions you want to ask them? Guiding children through the letter writing process can help them to expand their world and begin to think about the other people who are in it with them.
3. Letter writing builds writing and reading skills. I have always sent the children in my life letters - postcards from around the world, letters telling them what’s going on, and asking them what’s happening. They always got so excited to see mail coming with their name on it, and it built little episodes of reading and writing into their lives, alongside any technology that they used regularly. It’s a fun way to enhance those skills.
4. Letter writing builds connection. The amount of effort that goes into writing and sending a letter may be more than it takes to send a text. But in the grand scheme of things, it isn’t tremendous. But there is something about sending and receiving letters that builds a form of connection between those two people. Getting a letter makes everyone (including children) feel thought about and cared for, and it is a great way for them to show others that they are thinking about them and care for them as well.
My nephew once asked me what he could do for people at Christmas since he didn’t have money to buy them gifts (he is 8 and he wanted to do something for himself). I encouraged him to make some cards and send them, and he really enjoyed doing it. Finding out a little bit about those he was making cards for made him feel more connected to them, and it made us feel more connected to him when we received them.
5. Letters are fun! We all love to receive letters. And I’m not saying that you write to receive letters, but I have found that writing letters can vastly increase the chance of receiving them. It can be a fun hobby and a pastime that can bring lots of joy to be both the letter writer and receiver.
There you have it! 5 reasons to encourage the children in your life to write letters - and perhaps to start the ball rolling by writing to them!!
Children can write to you if you are a parent, to an aunt or Godmother (like me!!) or even to a friend. It can be on fancy stationery, a postcard or a piece of paper torn from a notebook.
Just encourage them to get writing! You will be amazed to see how letter writing can benefit everyone involved in the process!