A Humorous Way to Teach Friendly Letter Writing to Children

Good reading and writing skills will serve your child his entire life. Learning how to communicate effectively includes writing friendly letters to family members, friends and strangers. Teach your child how to write a clear, concise and polite letter by first learning the basics of letter-writing and using his imagination to practice writing.

  1. Parts of a Letter

    • You must first explain all the different parts of a letter to your school-age child. A fun way to do this, one that he is sure to remember, uses body parts for each section of the letter. Draw a picture of him or use a photo. Make an arrow that points to his head and label this as the "heading." Explain to your child that the heading of a letter usually includes the address and the date or, in some cases, just the date. Draw an arrow that points to his smile and label it "greeting." The greeting can begin with "Dear" and is followed by a person's name. Next draw a large arrow that points to his body and label it "body." Point out that this is the largest portion in the picture because it is also the biggest section of the letter. Finally make an arrow labeled "closing" that points to the feet. Explain that this part of the letter is how the letter ends and can use expressions such as "Love" or "Yours truly."

    Opening Sentences

    • Teach your child that the opening sentences of a letter, story and even a chapter in a book set the tone for the reader. In a letter, these first one to three sentences after the greeting also tell the person why the letter was written. Give your child examples of good opening sentences. In a letter to a friend, he could write, "How are you? I have been thinking about you." In a thank-you letter, he could say, "I hope you are well. Thank you for the amazing birthday gift." Ask your child to come up with sentences of his own. Make this exercise fun by making up creative reasons to write a letter such as joining the circus or applying to be an astronaut.

    Practice Letters

    • Your child can practice writing friendly letters to you, his siblings and friends. Make letter-writing a fun and creative exercise by giving him a list of three to five reasons for writing a letter. These can include sharing good news or something new about himself, to thank someone for something, to ask about someone's health or to share a hobby or event. Instruct your child to choose one person to write each letter to. A thank-you letter can be sent to a teacher or the postman, a good news letter can be sent to grandma about learning how to write a letter and a letter about a hobby can be sent to a friend. Your child will be thrilled when he gets a response letter.

    Story Book Letters

    • Combine your child's love of reading with an entertaining way to learn to write letters. Choose a favorite story book and ask your child to choose two characters in it. Help him write a letter to one character while pretending to be the other character. So, a letter that begins, "Dear Peter Rabbit," would be from the "farmer" and talk about making a deal with Peter Rabbit that if he stopped eating his lettuce he could have dinner at the farmer's home. Or a letter from the "Wolf" to "Little Red Riding Hood" would explain that he just wants to be friends and not to be frightened of his scary looks. Get creative and use characters from your child's favorite books, television shows and movies as fodder for his friendly letter-writing practice.

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