How to Help Your Kids Write Thank Yous - A Guide to Making it Fun

One of the most laborious tasks for a parent is to make sure their children express gratitude to the relatives for holiday gifts received. It can be difficult to figure out what the best way is to make it personalized from them, even when they are too little to write. So here are some ideas to help you and your kids get those thank you 'notes' out at the start of the new year.

One of the easiest ways to have your children give thanks is by art. Have them draw a picture and if they are too young to write, you can write in a thank you at the bottom of the picture. For slightly older children, have them make cards from construction paper. Even if you aren't going to mail it alone, it is a nice addition to the thank you note you are writing as well.

Because children under the age of 4 generally have little to no concept of what a thank you card is for, you should relate to them the use of making something in gratitude for a gift given. Make it fun for them so that they have early memories related to 'giving back.' As they get older their thank you's can be more advanced, but for now stick with simple things. Even though it is easier just to leave them out of the process and write up a thank you yourself, it is better to take the time to involve them. Purchase fun stickers, blank note cards in florescent colors, or easy stencils. Just let them get to work decorating the note cards. It will be an enjoyable experience this way.

Also for small children, you can take pictures of them with specific gifts and a smile, print them from your computer or from a picturemaker machine, and send these in the thank you cards that you write. And in the event that this is too much work, just photograph your child with a big thank you sign and have this copied for all the relatives. This makes it easy for little children to say thanks, without making a ton of cards. Have them hold the sign upside down, for a little humor to lighten the new year.

Often older children don't know how to write a thank you note. In this case you should sit down with them and give them suggested phrases, along with teaching them to write about specific gifts so it is more personalized. Give them a list of relatives, so they can see how the names are spelt, and list the present given next to the corresponding name. This way, they will learn how to spell familiarly spoken names, and it will make for a better thank you note without too much creative spelling. Don't write a thank you card for them when they are old enough to do it themselves. Getting them into the habit of expressing gratitude will help them appreciate what they've been given.

If you have more than three kids than having your children make individual thank you's is probably too much. Instead, have them all write something or draw a picture in one card. And this 'trick' will make the card look 'full' even when you yourself don't have much to write.

Other ideas include making cut-outs of holiday shapes (i.e. snowflakes, trees, snowmen, etc) and decorating them, sending pictures with your children and Santa, and putting thanks from each child into a felt stocking. All of these ideas are great for those that want to 'display' the thanks for a little while. Anything that would look good on a refrigerator is your best bet.