Mail Truck Valentine Holder

Every year my class makes this cute mail truck valentine holder for all their valentines and candy.  I've been using it so long that I no longer remember where the original pattern came from.  It's possibly Mailbox Magazine but I'm not sure.  If you know where it came from and are able to send me a link then I'll give credit where credit is due... until then, on to the post.

First you need 12x18 white construction paper.  Fold it in half and and cut a notch out for the front of the truck.  Staple the sides so that you now have a large pouch.  You could glue the sides but I find that the staples really help when the mailtruck is bursting at the seams with candy and cards.

Next, the children can glue on ( I like glue sticks for this) a 4x12 strip of red paper.

On top of the red paper glue a 3x12 strip of blue paper.  This gives your mailtruck it's stripes.

Next add your wheels.  These can be any size.  I give the children different size black circles for this and some of our mailtrucks become monster trucks while others eek along on little tiny tires.  I'm always curious to see what they choose.

Now the mailtruck is ready to be decorated.  Of course we use hearts for this auspicious occasion.  Some of the trucks get real fancy and almost flowery with all the hearts while others don just use a few.  I freehand cutting the hearts because it doesn't matter what they look like or how big they are. I do use at least 3 or 4 different valentine colors.

I have the children write their names and U. S. Mail and then the trucks are ready to be filled with goodies.  After all the valentines are delivered I put a few staples in the top and it's a nice little package to go home and be opened in front of Mom and Dad.

What do you use for Valentine collection?

Playing Post Office

February is a great time to play post office because it is later in the school year and the children have enough writing under their belt that it is very enjoyable making and writing valentine cards for one another.  As I was deciding how I would add a post office to the classroom this year I scrounged around the school to see what I could find.  You never know what treasures are awaiting you.

So I found this great box with little cubbies in an empty room and snatched it up. I added each child's name, and my own of course so that we all have a little mailbox.  I also added lots of paper, envelopes, pencils and some special mail to deliver.

I took blocks from our block center and covered them with a piece of copy paper and then added addresses.  I made one for each child and used the school address with the child's name.  The return addresses are all made up.  The postal worker had to find the recipients name and deliver the packages to the right person.  The kids loved this activity. Everyone gets a package and gets a chance to be a mail carrier also. This is an awesome sorting activity.

 The children also worked at the table writing valentine cards and delivering them to their friends.

This young man really decorated his card beautifully.

Valentine card delivery.

I had one little girl who flitted around the room throughout this morning so excited as she would come to me and say "I wonder if anyone has sent me any mail." She would go check it and say "not yet."  Reminds me of myself at times.

This was a really fun project that will continue for the rest of the month.   To expand the fun have parents send in junk mail that they get every day.  If everyone saves up a week or two then you'll have plenty of mail to deliver and the children can learn about different types of mail like personal letters, advertisements, cards for birthdays and anniversaries, bills (ugh), packages, flyers and magazines.  Mail carriers deliver all sorts of fun things. A good book to help teach this concept is The Jolly Postman or Other People's Letters by Janet and Allan Ahlberg.

 What do you do to celebrate the mail carrier's job?