Young children enjoy dramatic play and acting out many different occupations. Many kids like to pretend to be mail carriers and deliver letters to their friends and family members. You can create mailboxes using shoeboxes and a few other simple materials, and really give your children's dramatic play a boost. Use the mailboxes to deliver special messages to family and friends, or just to add some fun to a simple game with your kids.
Things You'll Need:
- Shoebox With Removable Lid
- Stickers
- Stamps And Colored Stamp Pads
- Contact Paper
- Crayons
- Tape
- Markers
- Fingerpaint
- Construction Paper
- Utility Knife
Choose a covering for the mailbox. You can use contact paper, which comes in many colors and patterns. You might also choose to cover the box in plain construction paper and decorate it later with paint, markers, stickers or stamps.
Cut a rectangular slot in the lid of the shoebox with a utility knife. Ideally, the slot will be big enough to accomodate a small envelope.
Cover the lid with the contact paper or construction paper. If you are using construction paper, wrap the lid as if you are wrapping a gift and secure it with tape. You may need to recut the mail slot if the paper covers it.
Wrap the bottom of the shoebox in the same manner that you wrapped the lid. Place the lid on top of the box.
Decorate the box if you wish using paint, crayons, markers, stickers or stamps. Allow your child to write her name on the mailbox and place it where the rest of the family or her friends can easily deliver messages to her.
References
- "Creative Activities for Young Children"; Mary Mayesky; 1996
Writer Bio
Kara Bietz has been writing professionally since 1999. Her professional observation work has appeared in the early childhood education textbook "The Art of Awareness" by Margie Carter and Deb Curtis. Bietz has worked in the field of early childhood education for more than 16 years. She holds an Associate of Applied Science in child development from Mesa College.
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