Fun things to send in a snail mail letter

Be it as an activity for children or as a hobby when adult - snail mailing is exciting and so worth it!

Picture by Emily Linnell on Instagram: @gonepostal2013

I discovered the snail mailing community some years ago on Pinterest because of all the pretty pictures of packages and letters that were on my feed daily. "Snail mail" is regular mail with a fun name. In a nutshell, you find a long distance partner online to snail mail with you (also known as your "penpal"!), whether they´re from your own country or not, and you both start exchanging letters and/or packages back and forth.

I believe there are many benefits of snail mailing, as I´ll talk about in a post later. The most important thing, in my opinion, is the possibility of getting to practice a new language with someone native from the country where it´s natural or with someone trying to get the hang of it just as you are.

There are many safe online communities where you can easily find a penpal from any preferred country in the world, language, gender or age. My personal favorite is the virtual community Students of the World: http://www.studentsoftheworld.info/menu_penpals.php .

Snail mail is a hobby that goes off road from current social media based communication (which has its own perks as well! If it were not for Pinterest, I wouldn´t have come across snail mailing at all, because I haven´t heard of it to this day in Brazil). Waiting for a letter to come for days or weeks and getting to answer it back may sound boring or uselessly slow, but I believe it´s a great exercise on patience and it builds a very special kind of excitement (you never know when you´re coming back home to find your letter in the mail!).

Usually, people who participate in snail mailing don´t limit themselves to exchanging letters in blank sheets of paper. They also send all kinds of stuff that could fit inside the envelope without having it become an actual small package.

This post was created to be a suggestion of things to send in a snail mail letter. Most of these can be done with children and would serve as a great activity, although I believe pretty much everyone would like to receive a pretty letter full of nice things! Here goes:

-If it´s your first time writing to your new penpal, send them an information card about yourself! Tell them your favorite things, your city, the languages you speak/wish you spoke...

-Similarly, you can send them a "mail tag" - a card filled with questions they can answer in their next letter.

Picture from http://mailmadeeasy.blogspot.com/2015/09/mail-tag.html

-Stickers.

-Tea bags (if you have an international penpal, check if you can do this! Some countries may not permit the shipment of any kind of food).

-A CD you recorded yourself with selected songs for your friend! Some computers can do it with no additional software.

-If recording a CD was too difficult for you, send them a list of songs you want them to listen to.

-Dried leaves and flowers.

-Movie suggestions.

-Washi tape samples.

These are available at: https://www.etsy.com/ie/listing/627987874/washi-tape-samples

-Drawings you made yourself!

-Cute themed band-aids (everybody loves those, come on!)

-Bookmarks.

-"Currently" lists: tell them what you´re currently watching, listening to, trying out...

-Recipes. Even better if they´re native recipes of your country.

-A small embroidery piece.

Pattern available at: https://www.beeskneesindustries.com/blogs/news/embroidery-pattern-flying-bee?utm_source=Pinterest&utm_medium=Social

-Bottons (flat ones, but beware with metal parts!)

-Keychains (same rule as the previous).

-Pictures of beautiful landscapes or cute animals.

-Pictures that represent life where you live in.

-Small notebooks. You can make those yourself and personalize them!

-Postcards from your country.

-Quotes you like and little pieces from your favorite books.

-Cute origami!

When I graduated High School, I did a cat heart origami with a magnet on the back for every teacher I had. The origami only requires double-sided origami paper (always available at Daiso stores for a cheap price!) and isn´t difficult to make at all! You can find the instructions at:  https://www.paperkawaii.com/origami-cat-heart-tutorial-origami-heart-pocket/

Phew! This is by no means a comprehensive list and there´s so many more ideas you can try! And what´s best: many of these ideas, like dried leaves and postcards, don´t require next level crafting abilities, just a little bit of effort. Also, they´re all inexpensive and their required materials are relatively easy to find.

I hope this list sparks excitement about snail mailing for you. If you do try some of these ideas out, let me know in the comments down below! ;)