With the advent of email, instant messaging, and FaceTime, pen pals have become a thing of the past for most kids. But there are a number of benefits for children—and caregivers—looking to communicate using stamps, snail mail, and salutations that don’t involve emoticons.
Cade Pope, a sixth grader in Oklahoma, recently made national news for sending each of the NFL’s 32 owners a handwritten letter asking why he should become a lifelong fan of their team. He received his first reply, a note scrawled in thick cursive and a box of memorabilia, from Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson. He has since heard from a few other teams, but kids who follow his lead will get much more than autographed jerseys for their efforts.
Writing something by hand requires kids to comprehend that letters make sounds and sounds work together to form words. To produce handwritten words themselves, children must use many parts of their bodies to form specific shapes while filtering out environmental distractions in order to translate what their brain wants to communicate into legible letters that come together on a page in an understandable order, according to Lenin Grajo, assistant professor of occupational science and occupational therapy at Saint Louis University.
Not only do children practice and integrate many skills when they put pencil to paper, he says, “they learn to participate in a meaningful activity that can enhance their understanding of self, which can then enhance their self-esteem.”
Writing things by hand can also improve their overall ability to comprehend, generate, and express ideas, according to recent research, and some doctors say writing by hand is also a good cognitive exercise for older people looking to stay sharp. Consider skipping some screen time over spring break to sit down and pen a few postcards or letters with your children. Whether the addressee is an NFL team owner or their favorite preschool teacher, letter-writing is a dying art worth resuscitating.
Here’s a link to letter writing resources for younger children from PBS Kids.
Here’s a link to letter writing resources for older children from ReadWriteThink.
Charlene Oldham is a writer and teacher who lives in Crestwood.
