Kids Birthday Party Center

How to Get Your Child to Write Thank You Notes

Your child just had a phenomenal birthday party, and walked away with quite the haul of awesome new presents. Now what? They should write and send thank you notes to everyone who came to their party, and gave them something. Today, we’ll cover why they should send them, and how to get your child to write thank you notes.

Why kids should write their own birthday party thank you notes

Developing an attitude of gratitude is one of many elements necessary to growing into emotionally healthy and well-rounded adults. Showing gratitude for birthday party gifts received is not just good manners, but it also helps kids to feel a deeper appreciation towards their friends and family members.

When a child writes a thank you note, the recipient receives a gift back. A note of thanks lets the gift giver know their gift was appreciated, and it always feels good to be appreciated.

Instilling the act of writing thank you notes in our children, is a wonderful way to help them develop feelings of being grateful. It also teaches them not to take gifts and kindness for granted.

Now that you understand the why, let’s get to the how of writing thank you notes. Shall we?

The key to children writing thank you notes is making it easy!

If you want your child to develop the practice of writing thank you notes, you can’t just expect it. You have to make it so easy, that they really don’t have an excuse not to. Here are a few helpful tips:

1. Keep stationary supplies on hand

Head to your favorite retailer and grab a bulk pack of blank thank you cards. Keeping them in stock means one less excuse for not writing them.

2. Create a special box for thank you note supplies

This should feel good, remember? By making a special box, it will feel more like a treasured experience, rather than a chore we have to do.

Fill the box with fun colored markers, pens, and stickers. You could even keep a list of thank you note ideas to help inspire you when writer’s block leaves you wondering what to say.

3. Help your children write the messaging

Notice we didn’t say write the messaging for your children. Depending on their age, you may need to help a little more, but the thank you note should be written as much by your children as possible.

Still, they might need some assistance remembering things like – who gave them the gift, and what exactly they should say. Sit with them as they write these notes, and guide them, but don’t force the message.

4. Make it as fun as you can

One of the things you can do to make it fun, is allow play time with all their new birthday party gifts as the reward for writing the notes. Additional things you can do to make the experience more fun is to play silly music while doing it, or make a game out of it.

Encourage them to add creative pictures or words too. The more they can enjoy this time, the more likely they are to instill the habit of writing thank you notes going forward.