Pen Pals Please
This next idea is going to rock your world–or at least your time machine!
Encourage your child to find a pen pal and start writing letters.
Yes, you heard me correctly. Why would I suggest something so outrageously outdated?! You may think your student would hate this idea, but a current Gen Z flip phone movement has teens moving away from too much digital content and seeking human connection.
Here are just a few important reasons to consider letter writing:
Escape the screen, slow the mind, revel in the quiet space
Relationships are everything! No therapist or medication can replace real human connection.
Letter writing provides a format for sharing meaningful stories, expressing feelings of sadness and loss, vicariously experiencing someone else’s joy, etc.
Teaches that genre and format matter. Texts, emails, even LinkedIn posts demand brevity and terse construction, but letters give writing a chance to breathe.
Requires strict attention to the AUDIENCE. What would this person want to know?
Requires thinking about composition and organization (and it’s not a school essay!!).
Practice for handwriting. Cursive script is beautiful. Also, many grandparents still write cards and notes in cursive. Students who can’t read/write in cursive miss out on those missives.
Creative kids can add their own flair with stamps and stickers. Young students might enjoy sending trinkets and treats with their letters in padded mailers.
The obvious, real-life opportunity to teach envelope formatting and stamping.
A quick Google search on “pen pals for kids” will help you find sites and ideas for writing. You can even find YouTube videos to introduce your student to the history and art of pen pals. However, your student could begin closer to home. How about cousins or grandparents that don’t live close? Did a former neighborhood friend move to a new location?
Let your child shop online or in the store for stationary and some fun colorful pens. Encourage them to find a writing nook somewhere in your home, a little carved out space where they can sit quietly to think and write. Both of these ideas can be as simple or as elaborate as your student wants.
Email might be faster, but the cost of that convenience is often paid by the loss of real human connection.
