Thursday, March 19, 2009

Going Postal: Mailboxes for Kids

by Designing Mom Jackie

The thing about being a 3.5 year old is that you want to do everything yourself. This bodes well for many things (eating, dressing, bathing) but not so well when things like fire, water, power tools, and red paint are involved.
One of the let-me-do-it-my-self-or-you-will-be-sorry things that Graham is into these days is putting our bills, letters, and invitations in the big blue mailbox on the corner by our house. He barely reaches the thing, but loves the thrill of slipped the envelope in the big box and then – despite my best wishes – slamming the door shut.

Since I’m always looking for new educational toys for G, I decided to pair his love for the mailbox with his love of imaginary play (and spare myself the whole door slamming business). Here a few great mailbox options that I found, plus an amazing DIY project that I hope to find the time to tackle one of these days.


Felt Mailbox Set
Mailbox Fill and Spill by Melissa & Doug #3054
Creative Teaching Mailbox



Stamp & Sort Mailbox

Schylling Classic Mailbox Sorter

DIY mailbox

5 comments:

libbydibby said...

we've done the same thing - using a box that had been mailed to us - cutting a slot in it and opening the back end. We placed it on a stool and have one mailcarrier and one recipient (I have 2 kids) ...
we make new mail, deliver it, open it...
and have found a way to fill at least another 1/2 hour...

Delphine said...

You beat me to it! I was also going to post about mailboxes. Here is another that I think is really sweet, from Pottery Barn Kids: http://tiny.cc/ncLk1

Annie Pazoo said...

Kids really do love mailboxes, both collecting the mail from the 'real' one (is there anything for ME, Mom?), to playing make-believe. Besides a fun way to 'send' little love notes and crafty goodies to your little ones, mailbox play is a great way to incorporate learning-to-read play. And the thing is, they don't ever tire of getting mail, real or fun (my two are now 10 and 14 and still ask daily "is there anything for ME?") !

Anonymous said...

My daughter loves getting mail and I am trying to get her to write letters and love that too.

Anonymous said...

My daughter has the felt mailbox set and she loves it! It seems like a toy that will really last a life time.

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