My Letter to Santa

What you need

• Paper, 1
• Envelope, 1
• Crayons or markers, 1 handful
• Pencil, 1

How to do it

Grown-up prep: Set out paper, an envelope, a pencil and crayons or markers on a covered table. Stay close while little ones use the pencil, and keep markers away from clothes and couches.

1. Fold your paper in half to make a card.
2. Write Dear Santa at the very top.
3. Tell Santa about your year: a lesson, a kind act, a proud moment.
   Ask: What is something kind you did this year that made someone smile?
4. Wish number one: write one wish just for you.
5. Wish number two: write one wish for someone else.
   Ask: Who would you love to surprise, and what would make them happy?
6. Wish number three: wish for something you cannot wrap.
7. Draw a picture of yourself at the bottom of the card.
8. Draw your own stamp in the top corner of the envelope.
9. Write Santa, North Pole on the front of the envelope.
10. Will you mail it, leave it out, or save it? Who else wants to write one?
    Ask: If you read this letter again next year, what do you think will be different?

Play it again

• Thank you letter: after Christmas, write a card thanking someone for a kind thing they did.
• Time capsule: seal this year's letter and compare it with a new one next Christmas.
• Picture letter: write the whole letter using only drawings and see if a grown-up can read it.