INTERGENERATIONAL PEN PAL PROJECT
Adapted from University of Florida-Nassau County Extension’s 4-H Hands & Hearts
Conceptual Objective: Practice and enjoy writing and sending a hand-written letter to a member of the older generations for whom exchanging handwritten letters was a welcome and wonderful tradition. For the full range of 4-H ages (5-19).
Time: 75 minutes (can be done on a single day, or over multiple days)
Materials Needed/Suggested:
Writing paper (lined or unlined)
Pens, pencils, colored pencils, crayons - for writing and art
Letter-sized envelopes
Stamps
Computer/internet for researching names, organizations, addresses etc.
Setting:
Can be indoors or outdoors
Anchor:
Ask youth: “When was the last time you wrote and sent a handwritten letter in the mail, either to someone you know or don’t know? When was the last time you received a handwritten letter? How did receiving the letter make you feel?”
Add:
Computers and digital technology have changed communication a lot, and very quickly. Most people now communicate in writing only through emails, texts, social media, and apps. Many youth can type very well but haven’t learned how to write in cursive or script! The art, joy, and tradition of hand-writing and sending–and receiving!-- a letter is a wonderful way to stay connected, grow and strengthen relationships and friendships, or make new friends; support people across the world; and be more creative in your written correspondence!
For older people, writing and sending hand-written letters was a main and important form of communication. These older people still appreciate hand-written letters, and younger people also love to receive them. It is a treat to receive a hand-written letter! (Adults/teachers can share cool letter-writing history or traditions, such as the Pony Express, spies communicating before/without electricity or postal service, letter-writing campaigns for social causes, writing with feather quills by candlelight, Thomas Jefferson’s ingenious two-pen copy system, etc.)
Apply:
1. Group students in pairs or groups of three.
2. Brainstorm and decide among the groups ideas for older people to whom they each will write and send a letter– the recipients could be people known to them (grandparents or neighbors), or ‘strangers’ (elected officials, people in other countries or schools, people who could use support and uplifting in the community, or other places such as Ukraine, or a local nursing home).
3. Adults/teachers help the youth research names and addresses for the selected recipients once they decide.
4. Brainstorm and decide for each person and letter the following: What do you want to ask / know about the person to whom you are writing? What do you want to tell/share about yourself? Discuss how you can increase your chances of receiving a reply letter!
5. Discuss how to effectively write the letter– write neatly, write large letters for older people who may have vision challenges, what kinds of words, phrases, sentences, etc. will be interesting and engaging for the recipient, etc.
6. Give each student paper, utensils for writing and art, envelope and stamp.
7. Neatly write and decorate the letter!
8. Neatly label the envelope with addressee and return address; apply stamp.
9. Drop letters in mail together via a “mini field trip” to a public or shared mailbox!
Away:
1. Share how writing and sending the letter made you feel.
2. What did you do to make the letter interesting, engaging, and easy to read? What did you do to increase your chances of getting a reply letter?
3. What do you think happens to your letter now? (Adults can do some prep beforehand on the process and pathways of the letter from sender to recipient.)
