When is the last time you sent a letter? Do you remember a peice of mail from years ago that meant a lot to you? What was once the main form of communication is now a novelty, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a fun way to talk! Kids today often have never written a letter, and that’s a real bummer. You can teach your kids to write letters and be passionate about sending cards and mail with these tips:

Find a pen pal
When thinking about that mail that meant a lot years ago, it’s probably more that the sender was important to you than just the letter. Pen pals can provide the perfect opportunity for kids to get involved in the mail. Do your children have friends who moved away to other states? Or perhaps they have cousins who live several towns away. These are perfect opportunities to become pen pals. Kids are too young for cell phones and texting will  especially appreciate being able to communicate with their friends in a totally cool way. Once your kids have chosen pen pals, get their addresses and their parents’ permission to talk via the mail.

Choose cool cards
When kids see they have a card in the mailbox, they’ll get excited. Deem your little ones the mail deputies of the family. Have them choose their favorite thank you’s, congratulations and birthday cards so they’re ready to celebrate when the time comes to send an appropriate note to their pen pals. You can even get them to help you with holiday cards! Even the littlest kids can add a stamp or help remove the backing on a self-sealing envelope.

Decorate the envelope
The very act of opening an envelope is exciting. It’s like Christmas morning for many kids. It can be fun to have your children personalize their envelopes to make this experience even more fun. Add drawings, sprinkle some glitter glue and get crazy with stickers. Just be sure the sending and recipient addresses and the postage stamp are clearly visible so your kids’ masterpieces make it to their intended recipient. Addressing an envelope provides a great opportunity for your children to work on their handwriting skills but consider using address stamps to make the process easier if they aren’t quite there yet.

Add a stamp and drop off
Stamps are another fun part about the mail. You can buy the regular U.S. flag ones, but that’s not nearly as exciting as grabbing the special edition varieties. There are awesome holiday options that celebrate just about every occasion possible, as well as stamps that feature celebrities like Marilyn Monroe and Elvis. 2016 is the centennial celebration of the National Parks Service, so the U.S. Postal Service released 16 forever stamps commemorating this exciting anniversary. The next time you head to the post office, bring your kids and have them pick out their favorite stamps. They may like it so much they want to start collecting, a fun family hobby that helps keep a love of the mail alive.