Writing thank you notes can be fun!
Can writing thank you notes be fun for children?
Today is Christmas Eve. The pile of gifts is still under the tree. But several hours from now, or 24 hours if you open your gifts on Christmas day, it will be a pile of toys and clothes and video games, and a trash bag full of paper and bows out by the curb.
Do you ever send thank you notes for the Christmas gifts you receive? Or is that only for birthday or wedding gifts?
I’ve been thinking about “it’s more blessed to give than to receive” for my Christmas Eve meditation. We teach our children how to give. Do we also teach them how to receive?
Writing a thank you note to your Aunt Betty for the sweater she sent you for Christmas used to be part of the etiquette training we received when growing up. And for most kids, writing thank you notes is drudgery. (Perhaps for adults, too. Maybe that’s why it takes us so long to get to it.)
What if writing thank you notes could be fun, for both children and adults? With SendOutCards, thank you notes can be fun! (At least, I’m finding that they are. And a lot easier to do.)
Here are some suggestions for helping your children write thank you cards.
- Talk with your children about how thank you notes make people feel. Let them know that receiving thank you notes makes people feel appreciated. And it lets them know that the gift arrived safely.
- Work on your thank you notes together. It’s always more fun to do things together than alone. And when you work on thank you notes together, you are a model for your children.
- Talk about what the gift means to them. Talk about how fun it was to watch the DVD or play the video game. Talk about the shopping trip the went on to use the gift card.
- Choose a picture for the front of the card, or take a picture of the child with the gift to put on the card. Most children love to take pictures or have pictures taken of them. Searching the computer for a pretty picture can also be fun.
- Choose a unique font and different color.
- Help the child write the thank you. For younger children, you can type what they dictate. For older children, give them an outline and help them think through what they would like to say.
- Fill out the address, and click “send.” The address will be stored in the contact manager, so sending the next card to this person will be even easier.
Here’s an outline for a thank you card:
- Greet the giver
- Express your gratitude
- How will you use the gift?
- A sentence about the giver
- Thanks again
- Regards
Dear Aunt Betty:
Thank you so much for the Christmas sweater. I can’t wait to wear it to school. I hope you had a good Christmas. I can’t wait to see you this summer. Thanks again for the gift.
Love,
Suzanne
I have a little time before our Christmas Eve service. Perhaps I’ll sent my Christmas thank yous today.
