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Mail Time! Setting Up Your Own Post Office

January 25, 2020 by Sarah 18 Comments

Do you know what you and your little ones need? A preschool post office themed activity! I tell you friends, this dramatic play idea lasted us ALL MORNING LONG! 

Not only that, this preschool post office idea is so full of learning. My three year old was practicing identifying his letters, his sounds, and recognizing familiar words too.

So friends, I bring you …

My Preschool Post Office Activity!

My little 3 year old playing with his preschool post office! Popping homemade letters into our colourful homemade envelopes. He is wearing his homemade mail carrier hat too!

Reading and writing activities for Preschoolers are great.  And making those reading and writing activities relate to their real life is awesome.  Creating a Post Office is a wonderful way to bring reading and writing to life!

Creating a Post Office is so simple!  We took a piece of construction paper for each member of our family.  I should clarify – we only started with people members.  But don’t worry – once our activity began we added pet mail boxes too. Anyways,  I folded the paper almost in half (i just left a little lip at the top) and taped the sides. After this, you can do whatever you like with the mailboxes!

We decorated (you can see Sammy was not overly into the decorating aspect – so we moved forward), labelled with names, and added photos to some boxes to make this activity something Sam could do more independently.  I left off photos for Mommy and Daddy as I wanted Sam to begin to recognize those 2 sight words.

A picture of our preschool post office on my preschoolers bedroom wall. We have an envelope 'mailbox' for Mommy, Daddy, and both siblings too.

After, we made a hat.  Because if you have a preschooler and a post office theme, you are going to need a hat.

A close up picture of my mail carrier! My little preschooler loves wearing this mail carrier hat as he delivers his mail to our preschool post office in his bedroom.

Then we started playing Post Office!

We began by looking at each mailbox as we hung them in the Post Office.  Sammy read out loud which mail box belonged to which family member.  I also pointed out that Daddy started with a D, Mommy with an M, etc.

Next, we all wrote some letters.  Even our mail carrier.

And look at that concentration!  My my, when you see the tongue you now he means business.

Colouring with a marker on some mail to be delivered to our preschool post office!

Sam noticed that Madeline and I were putting words and names on our mail.  He wanted to put names on his too.  At first he asked if I would write them for him. I told him of course I would, but there was another way he could let the mail carrier know who the letter was for.  He could put the first letter of the name on his mail and then the mail carrier could match up that letter with the name on the mailboxes (hint hint Sammy my mail carrier)

Tracing letters on to his mail to be put in the mailbox and delivered by our preschool mail carrier.

Madeline and myself had some fun making mail too.  I made sure to put the name of the person the letter was for clearly at the top.

Preschool writing on sweet little homemade cards made from construction paper

After mentioning a few times that, “we sure have a lot of mail” and, “boy I hope a mail carrier comes soon” he arrived.  Complete with his side bag (yes – it is definitely a purse) and hat (because, “Mommy of course we need a hat!”)

Our preschool mail carrier used a purse to carry his letters to their mailboxes.

Let me tell you that this little mail carrier certainly took his job seriously.  As we handed him our letters he studied them – if he was unclear on who the letter was for he would ask for a bit of help.  I would always start by asking him, “hmm … where is the name?” and then, “what sound does it start with?” He needed some help with Daddy’s name sound “D”, but otherwise did quite well.

This was a game that lasted almost the whole morning.  With a few additions (pet mailboxes, and mailing snacks) the game just kept going!  The mailboxes will stay up in the post office (Sam’s bedroom wall) for more play whenever the mood should strike!

This reading activity helps wee ones break down words into simply the first sound and allows them to match these letters to put the mail in the correct spot.  Sam was so very proud of himself!

The writing activity can become much more advanced for bigger kids.  You can mail persuasive letters, postcards, etc. It can grow with your little ones, a great activity for a long, long time.

I just loved playing with this preschool post office with my little guy. Loads of memories to cherish for the years to come. 

Looking for Peaceful Days at Home with Kids? I have got the answer right here in my Book!

Filed Under: Kindergarteners, Learn, Letters and Numbers, Letters and Reading, Preschoolers, Toddler, Toddlers Tagged With: fun, mail, reading, writing

« Preschool Classroom Management: 7 Things to Know!
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Comments

  1. Patricia Fischer says

    October 6, 2013 at 6:41 pm

    Thank you so much for your site! Lots of fun, new ideas!

    Reply
    • Sarah says

      October 6, 2013 at 7:20 pm

      Thank you for visiting! Come on back soon!

      Reply
  2. Mildred Noftle says

    October 9, 2013 at 5:06 pm

    This one is so funny… and what a great Idea… love the mail carrier’s hat.. and the mail boxes.. Hope everyone gets lots of mail…

    Reply
  3. Rose says

    December 8, 2013 at 10:53 pm

    Love this! I was looking for this idea on Pinterest and came here. I hope my boys are into this.

    Reply
    • Sarah says

      December 13, 2013 at 2:11 pm

      So glad you found us Rose – I LOVE Pinterest … I could spend hours looking at all the creative ideas! I hope your boys love this mail activity as much as mine!

      Reply
  4. Emma (My Little 3 and Me) says

    January 13, 2014 at 5:14 pm

    My boys loved playing mail deliverers when they were younger too. Such a great way to encourage writing for a purpose.

    Reply
    • Sarah says

      January 13, 2014 at 8:54 pm

      Thank you Emma!

      Reply
  5. Shaunna @ Fantastic Fun and Learning says

    January 15, 2014 at 1:10 pm

    I love this, especially that it can be made with materials most of us have on hand. And it’s a great way to encourage reading and writing. This is great! I love that it also includes a bit of literacy. Thanks for sharing in the Discover & Explore pretend play theme. I’m featuring this post today.

    Reply
    • Sarah says

      January 18, 2014 at 8:09 pm

      So glad you like the activity Shaunna! And thank you for the feature too!

      Reply
  6. Susen says

    February 16, 2014 at 6:20 am

    Post office play is in our very near future! Love it!!

    Reply
  7. EJ says

    June 15, 2014 at 9:29 pm

    Love this! We have to stay at home all day waiting on a service call for our washing machine and this is the perfect activity to keep my 4 and 2 year olds occupied. Thanks!

    Reply
    • Sarah says

      June 20, 2014 at 2:07 pm

      Oh, that’s never easy! Glad this idea will help during the wait! Good luck!

      Reply
  8. Dwi Rahmah Hidayati says

    February 26, 2016 at 6:30 pm

    Hallo.. I’m Dwi Rahmah. I’m Indonesian.

    Really great idea for learning with our child. Thanks for your inspiration, Sarah 😀

    Reply
  9. Anita says

    March 8, 2016 at 6:11 am

    Oh amazing! I am sure I will try it for my 2and half
    Year son.
    He definitely love it.
    Thank u.

    Reply
  10. Susan K says

    October 17, 2020 at 12:39 am

    Thank you so much for sharing. I am so excited to start teaching my 2 preschoolers in a fun and engaging way

    Reply
    • Sarah says

      November 11, 2020 at 10:04 pm

      You are most welcome! I am so happy that this idea will work well for you and your little ones.

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Learning to Print a Name in 5 Steps | How Wee Learn says:
    October 11, 2013 at 11:45 am

    […] to recognize his or her name.  A great activity that helped Sammy learn to recognize his name was ‘Setting up a Post Office’.  We played a version of this in Kindergarten as […]

    Reply
  2. Make Believe: The Drawing Chef | How Wee Learn says:
    October 17, 2013 at 7:06 am

    […] he continued to play it after rest and again after dinner with Madeline and Daddy.  Just like our Post Office, I know this will be a childhood favourite in our […]

    Reply

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