February 2022; By Judith Ehret– STARS Coach, Child Care Connections 

Welcome to Play & Grow! Each month you will find low-to-no-cost activities that are not only fun but also support children’s early learning. 

This month’s activity: Write and mail a letter (perfect for Valentine’s Day!) 

Preparation: Get your supplies ready! Paper, pens, pencils, and colors. Envelopes, stamps, and addresses.  

Introducing the Activity: Today we are going to write a letter and mail it. Pick a friend or relative. Let’s draw and write what you want, place it in this envelope, and we will take it to the mailbox to send.  

“You want to send Grandma a letter! That sounds great! Can you draw her a picture too?” 

“Yes, the stamp does taste yucky to lick. What do you think it tastes like?” 

You’ll want to start out by sitting with your child and helping if they need it. You can write a little note too. If your child needs the words written out for them, talk about what you are writing, and ask them specifically what you want them to say. Make a checklist, allowing them to cross names off. This will help you stay organized with the people your child wants to write to. Allow your child to do many of the steps like placing the paper in the envelope, licking the stamp, putting it on, and even placing the letters in the mail slot. You could even let your child call those they wrote to let them know to expect mail.  

Adapting the Activity: With younger infants and toddlers, let them scribble and experience the feel of the crayons or pencil in their hand. You could take a picture of them doing it to also send with ‘their” letter.  

With older children, this activity can be adapted to allow the children to fully engage in all the steps of writing the letter. Writing the address on the envelope and making their own checklist.  

Have fun with this one! Think of how happy the recipients will be!! Bye for now. 😊 

To learn more about the STARS to Quality program, click HERE!