Thank You Cards for Kids

Any time your child receives a gift of any size, whether it's wrapped up or in the form of a great year with a teacher or special leader, you've got a great opportunity to help your child master a classic writing form: the thank you letter. In addition, you've got a golden opportunity to support third grade writing instruction.

Any typical form you choose—a commercial card, a handwritten note—will most likely make the recipient's day. But to help your third grade writer, here's a special twist: you can work in some valuable practice in using quotation marks correctly. Third graders frequently practice this skill on worksheets, but there's nothing like "real life" applications to make those lessons stick.

What You Need:

• Camera (digital is great)
• Plain white paper
• Colored card stock paper
• Markers for writing your message

What You Do:

1. Start by cutting a sheet of 8-1/2” x 11” colored card stock paper in half horizontally to make the paper 8-1/2” x 5-1/2” in size, then fold it to make a card.
2. Take a photo of your child holding his gift, either alone or with a pet or friend or sibling, depending on the situation, and glue it onto the front of the card. Have your child write a large “thank you” on top…and then it's time for some fun.
3. Cut a cartoon “cloud” from the plain white paper, and have your child write a direct quote using the tools he's been learning in third grade. He might, for example, write something like this: I say, “Hey Uncle Stan, my new iPod rocks.” Or, “Grandma, I just love my cool paint set.” And if there are pets or siblings or other people in the picture, add quotes from them, too. Here's the trick, though: make sure you have your third grader practice getting those quotation marks just right.
4. Inside the card, have your child finish off the note with at least two reasons why the gift has been so great, and then have your young writer sign the card and send it off.
5. If you want to go digital, you can—word processing programs will allow you to paste in photos and add “clouds” too!