Cardboard Postcards

As the kids get older, they get more and more interested in sending (and receiving!) mail. Since we have family near and far, making homemade postcards was a great way to talk about staying connected with family in many different ways and also learning about how the post office works. There were A LOT of questions once the kids found out that our mailman did not hand deliver the letters we sent to cousins in California!
How we did it:
Materials List
- cardboard (such as from recycled food boxes)
- glue (watered down)
- foam brush
- paper (cut into squares)
- tissue paper (cut into squares)
- scissors
- markers
- postage stamps
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First, I cut postcard-sized rectangles out of cardboard. Then the kids covered one side of the cardboard with glue.
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Then they covered the glue with squares of paper and tissue paper.
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Once they were happy with their postcard design, we added one more layer of glue to seal the designs and set aside the postcards to dry.
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When the postcards were dry we got to sit and chat about how to address a postcard and why we address them. My five-year-old was so interested in this and really enjoyed writing everything herself.
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She was particularly excited about adding a stamp and finally understood why stamps from her sticker book could not be used to send mail.
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Emma drew pictures for family and we sent these off to surprise loved ones. She was learning so much with this craft that I thought a good way to mail these postcards was to take a little trip to the post office and really see where all the mail magic happens!