A stationery center for our kids is one of the projects that has sat atop my “DIY To Do” list for quite a while (the list is loooong). Now that the kids are both old enough to do much of their own writing (even though many of their spellings are quite creative), I thought it was about time to get it together. Teaching kids to create their own correspondence is a great way to help them develop academically, work on practical skills, and create a nice family tradition.
To start, you’ll need a good container. I was looking for something that would keep together the basics and was easily navigable by the kids without much help from me. I started with an extra large gift box from Paper Source and added file folders to keep the supplies well organized.
To help the kids create correspondences independently, I included templates of an envelope and postcard, which illustrate where all the pertinent information should go. I also wrote out a list of family members and addresses. I might add a list of commonly-used words and phrases, but I’m trying to encourage them to write on their own instead of copying at this point. To help cut down on all the writing, I got each kiddo a set of their own return address labels (Paper Source has SO many to chose from!).
Our kids are definitely still working on writing neatly and with appropriate space, so I chose to include a slightly larger size of card and envelopes (A9) to give them a little more room to write. The Lettermate Addressing Guide is a great tool to help people of all ages address correspondence neatly! I love the idea of turning artwork into postcards, so I included blank A2 notecards and Paper Source’s Post Card Rubber Stamp to show them how to do just that.
Decorating is obviously one of the kids’ biggest areas of interest, so I included plenty of fun items, including: ban.do stickers, glitter markers, fineline pens, graphic shapes stamps, greetings rubber stamps, and a great ink pad. To help keep things organized, I used glassine bags to hold the writing and drawing items.
The kids LOVED it and got right to work making postcards for family. Cam was a big fan of the stickers and her postcard is hysterical — someone is clearly having all kinds of party in her drawing! Even with my templates, they got a bit ahead of themselves and mis-labeled a few. But they quickly got the hang of it, and I think they’ll be able to do it themselves in no time! I included postal stamps in their kit, but we decided it was a good rule that they show me what they created first before adding the stamp themselves (just in case).
Thanks so much to Paper Source for helping me finally cross this one off my To Do List!
Rebecca is a mom to two young kiddos and, in her spare time (ha!), likes to pretend she’s a back-up dancer, craft cocktails, and run long distances. She blogs family-friendly activities, DIYs, and celebration fun at Not-So-SAHM. Her first book, an activity-based book for parents, is full of things you’ll actually enjoying doing with your kiddos – due out this fall.