Mailboxes

I saw these little mailboxes in the Target dollar spot and picked one up for each of my kids. I had some scrapbooking chipboard letters at home so I added their first letter of their name to each of their mailboxes. We have been using them for about a week now and the older two kids are really excited about them. I mean, who doesn't like to get mail?!! So far I have just been putting in a fun little treat for them to enjoy after quiet time in the afternoon. One day it was a little fruit snack pack, the next it was a tiny coloring book, then some stickers. I had grabbed a couple puzzles and little fun things from the dollar section as well. Maybe one day I will put a couple M&M's and a note that says I love you.

While I could just use this as a fun little treat for the kids, which of course it is, I do plan to sneak in a little learning as well. Aidan is showing interest in learning to read, so I want to write a simple note with some easy words included that give him a clue where to look for his surprise that day. The puzzles I got won't fit in the mailbox, so I thought I would try something like "look on mommy's bed". He knows how to spell mommy and the other words he knows how to sound out. So we sneak in a little learning on our way to get the fun surprise.

Ella is just working on learning her letters, so just having their initials on the mailboxes has her learning those letters. I am excited about adding this little piece of fun into our house. I don't put something in their mailbox every day, which adds to the excitement when they notice the flags are up on their mailboxes indicating that a new surprise has arrived.