Sticker Pen Pals + a purchasable download!

Written on August 14, 2024

by Jordan Engdahl

Would your child be interested in receiving mail?

It is such a fun surprise when a child finds out that a piece of mail has their name on it! But, normally, it only happens on the occasional holiday or birthday. Our 3 year old LOVES it when Amazon drops packages off at the door, even if it’s not always for her. But, she loves getting to open them up and find out what is hidden inside. Sometimes i’ll make sure I purchase something online rather than go into the store, just because I love to see her eyes light up when it arrives.

When we were kids, I will always remember my cousin and another girl on their street, who had this hidden mailbox in a bush, somewhere between the two houses, and they’d exchange random letters to each other. It was so fun going to check the box everyday, hoping there would be a fun surprise inside. It just seemed so magical, since you never saw the other person putting their letter into it.

Then, once COVID19 hit the world with a strike, and we were all locked in our homes for quarantine, another of my cousins (who lived all the way in Florida - we’re from Michigan), we started writing letters back and forth to each other, to give us something to look forward too.

Since our oldest is only 3, writing letters isn’t developmentally appropriate yet, and constantly purchasing items from Amazon can get quite expensive, we found something new!

The Sticker Pen Pal!

It is just like it sounds. All you have to do is send a handful of stickers in the mail to your favorite pen pal!

Let your child pick out a notebook or journal of their choice. You could even let them decorate it!

Then, let them pick out some stickers. Try not to send a whole booklet of the same stickers, as the recipient is going to take them and place them in their journal. It will be more fun for them to receive multiple different types of stickers, rather than all of the same.

The point is that they’re going to make a collage of all different stickers. It could even be a fun idea to collect stickers from different places you go, for example, stores, towns, or events. Or you could ask your favorite social media people to send you some, or even libraries and doctors offices hand out stickers! Send as many different types of stickers as you help your child’s pen pal build their sticker journal.

The hope is that, once you establish a Sticker Pen Pal, you will take turns sending a few stickers back and forth to each other to fill up pages full of all different kinds of stickers! You could even do this with multiple friends!

Creating a Learning Environment through Sticker Pen Pals

Each time your child receives an envelope of stickers, talk with them about it as they’re revealing what’s inside. Have them explain to you what they see or notice about the sticker. Ask them questions like, where do you think this one came from? Which one is your favorite? Maybe, have them categorize them. Once you’ve talked about them, let your child peel the backing off on their own as much as they can, and allow them to place it where they want too.

How we started our own Sticker Pen Pal Journey

We started out by letting Rilynn (our 3 year old) choose two matching journals. One for our daughter, and one for her cousin. I decorated them for the two (Rilynn’s not too fond of crafts, currently). And then, let her choose a handful of stickers we had on hand, plus some we received from the library. We placed those in an envelope and sent it with a journal and a letter explaining what it was that we were sending. This is going to be a complete surprise for them, since we didn’t give them any warning! But, I will keep a running update on our TikTok for everyone to see how it’s going!

If interested, I have created an affordable download of the letter so that you can send to a Pen Pal of your choice! Just have your child “sign” it where necessary.

Purchase your Pen Pal Letter here!

Happy Stickering!

Tag #stickerpenpal and #maternalbrickroad so that we can follow along with your journey!