Post Office: Pics of our Home Post Office

We put together our little home post office on Monday. We an animal crackers box from Sam's Club to build our little mailbox. Then we stopped at Hobby Lobby and picked out 2 sheets of blue poster board. (On sale for a total of about $2) Who knew there were so many shades of blue to pick from!?! Jacey loved the electric blue though. So we glued and taped the poster board to the box to cover it, making the little arch out of the top, then cutting a slot in the side big enough for his hand to easily reach in and out. I printed up and pasted on some logos I found by doing a google image search.



Hobby Lobby also had a denim satchel type bag on clearance for $3 and a little foam hat for $0.99. This picture doesn't show it but we used some white stick on felt to write MAIL on the bag and MAILMAN on the hat. When Jacey puts on his mailman uniform, he "requires" that everyone call him Sir. Don't you dare call him Sir when he's not wearing it though!



I also found a sorting/filing box at Office Depot for $13. We put each family member's name on the slots so that he could write letters and deliver it to their individual boxes. I put together a box of envelopes, postcards, paper, markers, sticky backed foam shaped like stamps, and To: and From: stickers and he went to town. I explained to him how people write the letters, put on the address labels and stamps, then drop it in the box. Then the mailman (or woman) comes along and sorts it and later delivers it. He practiced this all week and was quite the stickler when daddy didn't do it in the proper order.

Post Office

This week, our homeschooling group is taking a trip to the Post Office to get a tour and learn about the mail system and such. So, we're focusing this week on the post office and mail. Here are some ideas. Post your great ideas too!


Create a mini post office in your home. Create a post office center with boxes or anything else you already have on hand. Each family member should get a slot with their name on it. Set up a writing center stocked with stickers that resemble stamps, mailing labels, envelopes, and ink stamps. Encourage everyone in the family to write little notes to one another. If there are family members not in the house but that you see regularly, you can even have a box for them and encourage your child to "deliver the mail" to them with your assistance.


How the Mail Works
From EverythingPreschool.com
Talk to your child about how the mail works. Tell them that it is all just a big matching game. The sorters match the city/zip code to the proper location. Then the mailman sorts them and matches (delivers) them to the proper address.

Scales for Mail
Bring in scales and let your child weigh mail (and boxes you provide) just like they do in the post office. They can then add correct postage (how much they feel it should have) For added fun have them deliver the packages to different areas of the home.

Make a Mailbox
Brighthub has a pretty cute design for making a mailbox. You can do the letter recognition with it or just use the box as a sample.

Alphabet Hunt

Here is a great idea from notimeforflashcards.com I can't wait to test it out on Lillie!

http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/2010/04/learn-on-the-go.html

Learn On The Go!

Alphabet Hunt

Since my son was tiny I have pointed out letters, signs, colors… now that he is too big and I am too pregnant to have him in the Ergo we still play this game. Today we went for coffee ( apple cider) and found lots of letter along the way. The small pad we used fits easily in my purse and also serves as a doodle pad if he’s getting antsy while we are out.

1. Gather your materials. You will need a pencil , a marker, and a pad of paper. Alphabet Hunt
2. Write the alphabet on your pad with your marker. You can do uppercase, lowercase or a mix! Alphabet Hunt
3. Go run your errands. When you have a chance find some letters. This sign was a gold mine! Alphabet Hunt
4. Don’t forget to check them off your list. Alphabet Hunt
5. A fun variation would be to take pictures of the letters, print them off and make a poster or book. Once my little guy is a little better with the camera we will be tackling this one.