National Pen Pal Day

Do you remember a time in your life when you had a special someone that you could write to and receive letters?  If you are a grandparent, you may have had more than one pen pal!

This blog is to give information to writers young and old who are going to take up the art of pen pal writing once again or, maybe, for the first time!

Being a pen pal is a special relationship with someone far across the country or far across the world. Originally, a pen pal was thought of as someone who writes letters to share personal events.

From friends writing to friends, writing to relatives, or a fiancé waiting to come home and plan a wedding, pen pal writing serves as one of the most loved rituals of time.  If we continue to write letters, this wonderful art will remain with us.

At Grandparent Merit Badges, one of our badges to earn is writing a letter to your grandparent or grandchild.  You can read all about the badge kit here.

On National Pen Pal Day June 1st, what better way to celebrate by taking a few minutes to write a letter. This is an excellent opportunity to get the summer season started with activities that are not screen time. That might sound ‘boring’ but hang on for a few moments and think that you may really make someone’s day by writing to them!

During the summer months, in addition to spending time at the pool, also remember to set aside time for a quiet reading hour.  During this reading hour, you can use the quiet to write to a grandparent or grandchild.

Nothing to write with?  There are many excellent choices of inexpensive stationary sets on websites such as Zazzle.com and Amazon.com.  If you Support Local, one of your shops in town should carry some nice stationary sets. Calling ahead to ask may help.

Homemade Cards.  How about the idea of homemade cards?  With a few crayons or colored pictures, your imagination can come to life as you create your own special background for your letter.

What do I write about? If you haven’t had much experience writing a letter to a loved one, one distressing idea could be, what do I have to talk about or tell someone else?

Well, the answer is quite simple.  Even the smallest details of your day could be incredibly interesting or fascinating to the person you are writing to. For grandchildren, perhaps your school year is finishing up, and there are a few end of year activities that went on. Tell your grandparent about this.  Did you have a field day, band concert, school trip, a science fair, or a swim meet?

Our lives are so busy in our own ways, that when we stop and share things with others, we realize we do have many things to say and share.

Ideas on what to write.

• Local play you saw
• A recipe you cooked
• A vegetable garden you helped to plant
• A new song you like
• An event in your town
• What you are looking forward to about summer
• Special visit you recently had
• Picnic you went to
• A paper you had to write

Kids - Impress Your Parents and Grandparents!  One way to raise an eyebrow at home would be to ask a parent if you can buy a set of stamps.  The advantage to buying your own “book” of stamps is that you will have it handy at your desk and you will not need to ask a parent every time you need one. The United States Postal Service has lots of information about stamps and mailings. You can check them out here.

Mailing your letter.  You may know about what time the mailman comes to drop the mail each day.  Is it when you return home from school?  If you have written a letter and put the stamp on it, you can put your letter in the mailbox for the mailman to pick up.  There is a red flag on the side of the mailbox that you will need to put in the ‘up’ position.  This tells the mailman that there is a letter waiting to go out in the mail.

Did they get my letter?  It’s not like an email is it?!  Emails and text messages are so fast the recipient receives them right away. In the US, a letter will arrive in 1-3 days depending on how far away it is going. If you have sent a letter overseas, ask your parents how long it will take to arrive. It is different for different countries.

Writing at different ages.  When children are younger, writing to a grandparent can be straightforward and very simple, many times with the help of a parent to ensure neat handwriting and encourage writing one more sentence.

As children become teenagers, sometimes finding something to write about can be more challenging, trying to tap into that side of the brain where creativity is, and getting past the notion that nothing you have to say is interesting.

Being a pen pal is a gift that you give to another person.  It is a small gesture of kindness to write a note, a card, a letter to another person and mail it.  When someone receives that letter, it makes them feel special.  It is worth it to write letters, even short letters. Take the time to be part of this special way of communicating!If you already have your Merit Badge book, remember to place your sticker on this page!  Here is a handy link at Amazon, where you can pick up a copy of your book!

Happy Writing!

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