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Post Box Pretend Play

January 27, 2011 by Anna Ranson

Cakie has recently become fascinated with the way that the letters seem to magically plop through the door every morning and now wants to do “posting” all of the time. She asks me to open the front door so that she can go out on to the doorstep and push things through the letterbox (think pebbles, plastic tat, scrunched paper) then she rushes around to see where it has fallen in the hall. Cue much wonder, amazement and hilarity. Just about everything is hilarious at the moment- how wonderful it must be to be 2!

After she had a go at posting some real cards in a real post box the other day, the focus has now shifted to these so I decided to make her one for role play at home.
ย 
I found a small cardboard box, taped it closed and cut out a small rectangular window from the front and a larger, pull down flap at the back. I painted it with two coats of red ready-mix paint and then put a band of black around the bottom and some wording at the top. It’s not going to win an art competition but it’s fit for its purpose as a play item!

I dug out an odd assortment of envelopes and addressed them to various members of the family (don’t worry, we don’t really live at 3 Big Street, I’m not giving away our location!) I stuffed them with folded bits of paper and card with little messages on, just so there is something to “read” inside. It’s always good to surround young children with real text for a real purpose so that they understand the uses for writing at ย an early age.

She absolutely loved it and had a fabulous time being Post Lady, posting and collecting, sorting and shuffling, arranging and delivering to her heart’s content.

She particularly enjoyed opening each envelope to see what was inside. Apparently everything was “wonderful!”, yes, even those pesky bills!
ย 
Fold the letters back up, stuff them back into their envelopes and post, post, post!
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Then she asked to make some more letters, so she chose some coloured paper to put into envelopes for her favourite buddies and even had a go at some mark-making to address the envelopes herself.

And yes, pebbles and half eaten pears have also been posted, just as I expected!

This activity is good for:
* Creative Development
* Imaginative Development
* Role Play

* Fine and Gross Motor Skills
* Early Literacy Development
* Knowledge and Understanding of the World

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Filed Under: Creativity, Imaginative Play, Literacy, Role Play, Toddler Tagged With: Early Literacy, Role-Play

« Baby Play: Dropping and Posting
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Comments

  1. Kristi @ Creative Connections for Kids says

    January 29, 2011 at 5:27 pm

    What a great idea for pretend play, writing, and just plan fun! I love the little mail box. ๐Ÿ™‚

  2. Angela says

    February 1, 2011 at 9:53 pm

    I love it! My 33-month-old will love this – I’ll have to try it with her.

  3. EmilyM says

    February 1, 2011 at 10:37 pm

    Very cute idea. My son has recently become very interested in mail, mail boxes, mail trucks and the mail man. LOL This would a be a perfect activity for him.

  4. maggy, red ted art says

    February 2, 2011 at 10:59 am

    Oh what a very lovely post box! Love that you can open it at the back too! Very cute indeed! ๐Ÿ™‚

    Maggy
    Kids Get Crafty

  5. RedTedArt says

    February 3, 2011 at 10:36 am

    (Thank you for linking up!!)
    Maggy

  6. Isil Simsek says

    February 6, 2011 at 6:50 pm

    what a lovely post box,I love the envelopes and the bills,too ๐Ÿ™‚

  7. Cathy James says

    February 10, 2011 at 8:43 pm

    Oh no, not bills! L’s been writing letters this week too, so I think we need to make a post box.

  8. Phyllis says

    February 11, 2011 at 12:07 am

    My youngest boys and I made a version of this mailbox this week. Thanks for the idea. My boys are quite a bit older, but they still like to do things like this and it encourages them to practice reading and writing!
    Here is my post on it-
    http://homeschooljournal-bergblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/mailbox-for-month-of-mail.html

  9. rachelle @ tinkerlab.com says

    February 19, 2011 at 8:04 pm

    Yay! My daughter and I have been talking about making a post box, I did a little search for one, and here you’ve done it! Thanks for the good suggestions.

  10. Annmarie says

    March 2, 2011 at 12:04 pm

    Hi Anna, Iโ€™m loving this site and I thought you might like this fun and totally edible activity.
    Peanut Butter Play dough.
    I’ve made it with my girls and they love it as an after lunch treat/playtime.
    I use maple syrup instead of honey as it’s looser and tastier.
    Enjoy.
    Ingredients
    3 1/2 cups peanut butter
    4 cups icing sugar
    3 1/2 cups honey
    4 cups dry milk powder
    Directions
    1. In large bowl, cream together peanut butter and icing sugar, then beat in honey and fold in milk powder. Divide into 15 equal portions and refrigerate or freeze until ready to use.
    Annmarie Sapsford

  11. Here come the girls says

    January 1, 2012 at 10:29 am

    Have been meaning to make of post box for ages. Will add it to the to do list for 2012

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About The Imagination Tree Hello and welcome! I'm Anna, Mama of 4, early years teacher and play enthusiast from the UK! Click here to read more about me.

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