Friends For Good

Activity Overview

We all strive to be connected to others in this big world, and this feeling is made even more intense by the conditions we find ourselves in these days. Luckily, we have technology at our fingertips to make reaching out to others easier than it’s ever been. But even with our more immediate platforms of connection, there is still so much merit in providing young children with the opportunity to engage in “snail mail.” The benefits of writing a letter range from graphomotor practice and the tangible feeling of creating an artifact of writing, to practicing the art of waiting and imagining the journey a piece of mail takes from point of origin to destination. In this activity, students will get an opportunity to create mail with a purpose, not just to say “Hello” but to say “How are you?” and positively impact a stranger’s well-being by the generous act of writing get well cards.

What You Need

• Construction paper

• Stickers

• Envelopes

• Stamps for postage

• Crayons, markers, or colored pencils

Steps

1. Review how mail is sent with students. Perhaps review Where Does Mail Go? on Epic from our Mailbox Maker Challenge last week to frame the activity.

2. Have students discuss the cards they made for their family members or friends in the Mailbox Maker Challenge, and why they chose to make cards for those individuals.

3. Explain to students that they can make cards for many different reasons and occasions - one of those being when a loved one is sick. Sending a kind card can help others know that we are thinking of them and care about them.

4. Frame this activity by defining generosity in terms of being kind and giving. Acts of generosity, both volunteering and charitable giving, not only benefit recipients, but the givers as well. Let the student know that they will be making a card for children who are sick at Jefferson Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia through the organization Friends For Good Philadelphia. It’s ok if we don’t know their names. We know how they’ll feel when they receive a card from us….and how it’ll make us feel to be generous and giving. How many cards will you make before you mail them off?

5. When you’re ready to mail the cards and letters, address them to:

Jamie K. Joy

Friends For Good Philadelphia

432 Dupont Street

Philadelphia, PA 19128

Guiding Questions

• How does it make you feel when someone sends you mail or gives you a card?

• How do you think your card will make the children at the hospital feel?

• What are some kind things we can say in our cards to make them feel better?

• What are some things you might have in common with these children? What are some things that may be different?

• Should we find out how far away Philadelphia is from us?