A STEAM Project for Kids: Crafting a Mailbox

There is something about an old fashion letter that is magical. Do you remember when you were a child, and you got a letter in the mail! It was an extraordinary day when you received a letter. It wasn’t until December when I thought of the power of sending a letter and receiving a letter, when Evie wrote a letter to Santa. Evie wrote (colored on) her letter, I’m sure it was very detailed and well thought out. We put it in an envelope. She carried it into school. I directed her to the mailbox. And here is the crazy part, I expected her to stand next to the Santa mailbox and maybe try to pull off his beard, but she didn’t. She pulled open that mail slot and shoved her letter right in there! This activity got me thinking…what a great STEAM project for kids!

The post office is a vital part of our mail delivery system. Though most mail can be delivered electronically, the magic of a hand-written letter still exists. For this activity I want to create a mailbox and give Evie the opportunity to write a letter to someone. Who knows!? Maybe she will receive a letter back!

An Engaging STEAM Project for Kids!

Creating a Mailbox

While I do want to write and send a letter, I am going to challenge you to create your own mailbox with your child! This has many benefits. First, your child can start working with and experiences latches, hinges, or locks in an intentional way. Second, having your child create a mailbox will allow them to think about the process of how a door will open and close, what they can do to replicate that motion and develop the fine motor skills to accomplish this project. This is the engineering portion of the STEAM project for kids!

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Things You’ll Need:

• Box
• Scissors
• A latch to keep the mailbox closed
• A hinge to allow the mailbox to open and close

I know what you are thinking! NO! You do not need to run out and buy things for this activity! In fact, I encourage you not to! The components of a mail are a mail slot, and a way to open the mail box, letters have to be taken out somehow! While you can go buy a hinge and a latch for your mailbox, you absolutely do not need them! For example, when you cut your mail slot into your box cutting two vertical lines and a connecting horizontal line will create the opportunity for your child to use the box itself as a hinge by pulling down on the flap!

The next issue would be to keep the mailbox closed. With this type of hinge, I would recommend cutting out another tiny piece of cardboard, shaping it like a hook and gluing it to the box. You can gather some twine, glue it to the flap in the shape of a loop and use the hook and loop of twine to keep the mailbox shut!

This is just one method to create a mailbox! 

If you have a box with a lid, you can create a mailbox too! This method may be better for younger children. Simply cut a slot into the top of the box and BOOM! You have a mailbox! Personally, this will be the method that I do with my 18-month-old. She is at the point where she is trying to put lids back onto containers, so for her this will be great practice! This is probably the simplest design for this STEAM project for kids.

You can add a form of latch to make it more challenging for your child. Working on opening and closing latches is a great way to work on developing those fine motor skills! For a lid with a box, you can add a button to the side of the box or the lid, add a piece of string or twine to opposite piece and wrap the string or twine around the button! Better yet! Have you child glue the button and the string to the box. Remember, ‘Just a dot, not a lot’!

Sit down with your child and create a plan! Allow them to come up with ways to create a mailbox. Something that a coworker once said to me is “the only thing a child learns when you do something for them, is that you do it better”. Allow your child to take an active role in the design process. This will help them develop critical thinking skills, and problem-solving skills! Allow your child to take part in the gluing and cutting part of the creation process. This will help them create those fine motor skills!

Create SEASONAL FUN!

Make it fun! This is a perfect opportunity to create a mailbox for any occasion that is coming up! Let your child decorate it with stickers, paint, crayons, or whatever their heart desires! Make this mailbox theirs! This is the art aspect of the STEAM integration process! I decorated my mailbox in preparation for VALENTINE’S DAY! This will be Evie’s first really year with her class, so I wanted to make sure she had a cute little box to put her goodies in! It was SUPER SIMPLE! I used:

• White paper. I wrapped the box in white paper, just like I was wrapping a Christmas present.
• Cellophane. I used this to create easy cut out hearts
• Markers. I used three different shades of pink!

Let your child design their own box! This will engage them on a creative level and give you the perfect opportunity to ask them about their artistic processes!

Scissors…

At 3 years old, every child in my classroom will use child-safe scissors. I’m not saying to let your child cut the cardboard. That might be a little much. However, using scissors is a great way to build the muscles in your child’s hand. I highly recommend working with your child on this skill. At the beginning of September, most of my children could not use scissors. But we worked on it. First, we learned the proper way to hold scissors, while cutting and walking, because safety first! Then we learned ‘open and shut, open and shut’. This will be hard for them! They haven’t used those muscles in their hands before so it will take some time to grow and strengthen those muscles! Draw a line on a piece of paper and have your child practice cutting up a line and stopping at an ‘X’. Now some students will just make cutting marks on the edge of paper and create confetti. This is completely normal! They are still working on that open and shut motion and building those muscles. Just keep encouraging them to try cutting up the line. Fast forward three almost four months, most of my children are capable of cutting out curvy shapes and designs! They aren’t there 100% but you can definitely see improvement!

Let your child practice their scissor cutting skills by creating designs that they cut and glue to their mailbox. Let them decorate and explore different design elements! Practice it the key to developing any new skill!

Writing a Letter: a key part of our STEAM Project for Kids

Depending on your child, this might not be a cleaning written, legible letter. It could be scribbles, a picture, a picture with one or two letters written, or maybe a couple of words! The important part of this portion of the activity is to look for proper hand placement on the pencil, crayon, or marker. Keep correcting their hand placement! Children will want to grasp the crayon with a fist. Demonstrate how you hold a crayon and allow them to try. Throughout the writing process, they will probably revert back to the fist hold again. Just keep reminding them to hold the crayon with the proper grip. In time, it will become more and more comfortable for them.

Writing activities are great, even if your child isn’t writing letter or words yet. The practice of writing will fine tune their fine motor skills. As their fine motor skills develop, you will see improvements in their writing!

Once your child writes or colors their picture, encourage them to place it in their mailbox! Now, this can be the end of your STEAM project for your child, or you can continue on!

Mailing the Letter

For this optional part of the activity, you can practice addressing a letter with your child! This is a great way to give a real-world example of numbers and letters. If you are looking to have a letter reach the designation, you might want to do the writing portion, but it doesn’t hurt to have your child try to address a letter themselves! Given them their own envelope of fold a paper into an envelope. Teach your child how to address a letter, with the name of the recipient on top, their street address, their state, and their zip code. The address and the zip code can be good practice for number recognition! Practice counting to the numbers in the address. Encourage your child to count as high as they can! This adds a math element to the STEAM project for kids integration process!

Some people you can write to are family, friends, and teachers! Send a quick message and tell your person that they should be expecting a letter from your child and maybe they will write a letter back!

I have also learned that you can send a letter to your favorite Disney character! I’m not entirely sure if it will generate a response. I hear rumors that your child might receive a signed postcard in the mail, but I’m not entirely sure. I think Evie and I will try it out and see what happens! Thank you for reading! Who did you mail your letter to? Did your child receive a letter in return? How was your mailbox designing process? Feel free to share your experiences! I love hearing stories about how your adventures go!