There is nothing more personal to me than a sincere handwritten note. It is so easy to send emails and texts and make a quick call to say thanks, which are all fine in certain situations. But there is nothing as meaningful as a thoughtful note on personal stationery. This is something I hope to instill in my own children from an early age. I love beautiful stationery. I love engraving. I love letterpress. I love blind embossing. I love a thick textured card. A beautiful folded note. A delicate envelope liner. Basically anything personalized with beautiful craftsmanship. I could write a whole post on engraving and letterpress and another entire post on the importance of paper choice, and its thickness and texture. I love when people recognize the importance of beautiful stationery, and how it can reflect your own character. People are given stationery as gifts, and often don't even pick it out themselves. It is a shame, because stationery can be so personal, and it makes the whole process even more fun when it is something you have picked out. Ok, so I am getting off track a bit here, but this leads into one of my first points in the process of teaching your children about the beauty of hand-written correspondence:
LET YOUR CHILD CHOOSE THEIR OWN STATIONERY.
If you are purchasing stationery for a child old enough to participate in the selection process, allow them to have a say in the appearance of their stationery. Children's stationery is allowed to be fun and have character. Involving your child in the selection process makes note-writing all the more fun for them. If you are purchasing stationery for a baby or toddler, think of toys or colors that they are drawn to, and think of what reminds you of them when picking out their stationery.
EXPLAIN WHY, AND MAKE IT FUN.
When your child receives a gift, you want them to think immediately of thanking the person who gave the gift. This must be taught, just as you must teach your children that a thank you note is a necessary and important part of the gift giving and receiving process. You can teach your children that a thank you note is important AND fun by talking about the gift and thinking of how you have used it and enjoyed. Then you can put that on paper! Another way to make it fun is to have your child draw a picture of themselves using the gift.
THE POST OFFICE IS AN ADVENTURE!
Kids love taking part in grown up tasks (well, some of them anyway). And if you make it fun, they will look forward to it. So, a trip to the Post Office should be a fun activity for you and your child to do together. When he or she has written a note, let them put the note in the mailbox, or buy the stamps. Then they can learn how mail works and learn to enjoy the process.
Hopefully these three quick tips will help you as you work with your children to instill the importance of the hand-written note. Hand-written correspondence can help to develop your child's writing skills, their ability to articulate and also simply teaches the importance of appreciating the things they are given.
Here are some more tips offered on the
Emily Post website for teaching your children about writing thank-you notes.
Children's stationery does not need to be engraved, but if you can afford to spend the money on it, engraving can make for a beautiful note. Printing or letterpress are equally good options for children's stationery. Here are some more fun samples of printed children's stationery I have designed. Let me know if you have a need for any. I would love to work with you and your little one.
CREDITS: I hate that I did not hold on to the free clip art info to give credit for some of the images and motifs used in a few of these samples. Next time I will definitely pay attention to the site so I can give proper credit where it is due.
