a peek inside the fishbowl

ETA: Looks like HP took the link down. Sorry folks.

Mail is good, especially for kids. Not only is it exciting to receive mail, but it also encourages a host of things we want to encourage in little kids who are learning to read/write and express themselves verbally. [Speaking of which, click on the letter I scanned to see an enlarged version of (what I think is) a draft of a letter Sarah wrote to a little friend. (!?)]

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In Little Women, the girls establish a mail box with Laurie, the little boy next door. They use it to send letters and packages to one another.

How sweet, I thought. I want to do that too.

So I found a template for a cute mailbox on the HP website. Note: If you want something to hold larger packages you’re going to have to rig up something else. This is for letter mail!

If you have a few sheets of white cardstock on hand, scissors or an exacto-knife, and some glue you’re set to go.

I’m not going to duplicate the instructions here, but I will add that it’s important to make sure the front flap is glued on to the side that says FRONT. ;)

I will probably make Sarah’s today. Emma’s is upstairs, attached to an Ikea magnet board we have in the hallway between their two bedrooms. I’ve already sent her some mail. And she loves it.

The poor kid is home sick today. She woke up with a fever at 4 a.m., which was surprising because she was perfectly fine yesterday. She’s tired and feverish, not to mention sad that she’s missing a field trip to skate on the Canal. Perhaps some more mail will cheer her up.

p.s. More thoughts on Operation Feelin’ Great to come later…. but I will say this, it was a GREAT DAY. :)