National Card and Letter Writing Month
The art of letter writing seems to be a dying thing, but who doesn’t love to get a card, letter or postcard in the mail? While away on spring break, I made a point in having my son, who is only 5, write (with my help) some postcards to send back to grandparents and friends. The U.S. Postal Service is celebrating this tradition of communication in April by designating the month National Card and Letter Writing Month by issuing colorful Forever stamps sheets complete with decorative stickers for personalizing envelopes, letters and greeting cards.
In addition to the stamp, the Postal Service is collaborating with Scholastic to provide an educators’ guide on teaching letter writing titled, “It’s a Delight to Write,” that will be distributed to 80,000 teachers and 7.3 million parents nationwide.
The national writing program, “It’s a Delight to Write,” is designed to encourage letter writing through a classroom poster-teaching guide that will be distributed to more than 80,000 teachers nationwide. The guide features lessons on writing letters, plus writing activities for students including: “Mystery Mail,” a fun writing game to get students to learn more about each other. “Post Pocket Pals,” an activity to create pen pals around the world and “Fan Mail,” a guide to writing letters to favorite authors. The program also includes parent take-home activities to encourage family writing night and comes with a cut-out postcard to get kids started.
The limited edition Forever stamps bear the words “From Me To You” in capital letters. Surrounding the four rows of stamps in the center of the sheet are colorful self-adhesive stickers. The 11 labels at the top of the sheet, in the shapes of hearts, circles, and rectangles, carry messages such as “Happy Birthday,” “Miss You,” “Thank You” and “Get Well Soon.” Along the sides and bottom of the sheet are 26 decorative stickers including hearts, envelopes, flowers, mailboxes, and a kiss (red lips).
Stamps can be purchased at usps.com/stamps, the Postal Store, at 800-STAMP24 (800-782-6724) and at Post Offices nationwide. Here’s to taking a minute to send a special card or note to a friend.
