Do Your Kids Hand Write Thank You Notes, Cards or Letters? Here's Why They Should! by Kirstin Ahearn

Email, text and social media make up the bulk of today’s written communications. While this style of writing is based on traditional forms (meant for the reader’s benefit), it is the first time in our history when writing is used for the writer’s benefit (abbreviations, little punctuation, emojis). 

Encouraging your kids and teens to hand write letters brings them back to the original point of writing, helps them more cohesively express their thoughts and teaches them the value of simple acts of kindness. Here are a few ways to do that (and make use of all those note cards we bought from fundraisers over the years):

• Insist they hand write thank you notes for any gifts received when they cannot thank the giver in person (basically any gift received through the mail). Sure, a phone call is nice, but a short, specific note is so much more special. Try it this Christmas!
• Encourage them to write an actual letter (or post card) to a distant relative or friend or to someone in the military.
• Have them write short notes of appreciation to their teacher, friend or mentor who went out of their way to help them. The return on this little effort will be surprising!