I remember when I was about 8years old, I had a penpal, we got to write back and forth and it was such an interesting thing, never meeting someone but communicating with them. I got to learn a bit about a different culture and vise versa, somehow it all fizzled out.
I was thinking today if it’ll be a good idea for my almost 7year old to have a penpal. In this day of emails and easy access to faster communication, I thought it would be nice to get him to actually write a letter, address and post it, and it’ll be quite exciting for him as well getting a letter addressed to him in the post.
Obviously, I recognize in this day and age of a few ‘sick’ individuals, I have to be cautious,of course no pictures sent and all but I was just wondering if anyone thinks I should or if it’ll be a bad idea.
I think it would be better if you knew someone with a son or daughter around the same age. You could set it up with his/her parents. That way you know who your child is communicating with. The kids don’t have to know it was pre-arranged, but it will give you peace of mind.
I love penpals. The biggest disappointment is when the letters don’t flow, then the kids get disappointed. I am am big believer in written letters. It is a great way to get kids excited about writing. You should ask on this board for someone that might be interested and then you can set it up. I have a 6 year old boy that would be interested in having a penpal. If you are, PM me and we can swap addresses.
I had one around that age from Germany. One of the teachers from my school had a nephew there, I got such a kick out of getting and writing letters to someone half way around the world. I look forward to setting up something similar with my kids.