Card Post Office
What you need
- a cardboard box with a letterbox slot cut in one side
- old greetings cards, or paper folded in half
- envelopes
- crayons
How to do it
- Let your child choose who each card is for: someone in the family, a friend or a favourite toy.
- Draw or scribble a picture inside each card, and write the person's name on the front together.
- Pop each card into an envelope and post it through the slot in the post box.
- Open the box and be the postie together, delivering each card to the right person or toy.
Why it matters
Making a card, posting it and handing it over is a whole small job from start to finish, and their marks become a message for someone they love.
What they're learning
- Marks that mean something
- A scribble that says "for Gran" is the start of knowing that marks carry a message.
- Holding a crayon
- Drawing on a small card takes more control than a big sheet.
- Giving
- Delivering a card and watching someone open it is the happy end of a job they did.
What to look for
Notice them telling you what their card says, even when the marks are scribbles.
A tip
Cut the slot yourself with an adult knife before you start, and make it wide enough for a card in an envelope.
Make it easier or harder
Easier: use old greetings cards with pictures already on and just add a scribble and a sticker
Harder: let them draw a little picture on each envelope so the postie knows who it goes to
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Fine motor activities · Toddler activities with paper · Toddler activities with a cardboard box