Clever Thank-You Notes

[PollyannaMom]

Does anyone have clever thank-you note ideas, to make writing them fun (or at least not torture) for kids?

 

[clh2]

How old are your kiddos?

When my DD was around 5 - I had made some up that were sort of preprinted - yet she could fill-in-the blank, and then DD put her own artwork on the front. Sorry - that was 10 years ago, so I don't remember exactly what they said.

When DD started getting older, she wrote the whole note herself. My advice - they can be short, do not edit them (this isn't homework afterall). They do need to be sincere! One of my favorites that DD wrote when she was about 8 or 9 - to her grandparents was : Thank you so much for the video chair. If I had known it would be so nice, I would have asked for one years ago.

When DD started getting gift cards for presents, she needed to complete the TY's before she could go spend the money!

Another year, when DD was in 4th grade, she took all her birthday money and we found a rolltop desk that she really wanted on ebay. We took a picture of her with the desk, and used that as the front of the Thank you note. The Thank you was more of a "Thanks for the birthday money, I used it to help buy my new desk!

This year (DD is now 15), she had all her TY's written by Sunday night, and they were in the mail on Monday. Don't know what she wrote - she totally sealed them up and addressed them.

Maybe you could help with the "format": i.e. each TY should have a:

Dear So&So:
Thank you for the Target giftcard! I am going to use it to by some games for my Wii. I can't wait to go shopping! Love, Frank.

Really - that is all that is needed in a thank you note. It doesn't need to be an essay.

Good Luck!

 

[clh2]

I found a website that offers the "fill-in-the blank TY's. These are really pricey, and I am WAY cheap - but I just wanted you to have an idea of the language used.

http://www.myexpression.com/prodDetail.cfm?ProductID=821&ProdCategoryID=8&ProdSubCatID=3

 

[RangerPooh]

Two years ago I bought pre-printed TY notes from Michael's Crafts ($1 per each package of 8 cards + envelopes). This is what they say:


Dear ____________________,

Thank you for the ___________________. It really made me happy!

From,
_____________________


It made sending TY notes much easier as my DDs are young. You could easily copy and paste this note into a word document and place a ncie piece of clip art behind or besides the wording. Or place on a ncie piece of stationary. or add a boarder for the kids to color.

 

[NotUrsula]

We've started doing video thank-you-notes. It works very well for the 2 yo, as she cannot write yet.

DS12 hates to write anything and has great difficulty with penmanship. However, he can create animations. This year, we had him do a little stick-figure animation showing himself using the items he was given, and emailing it to the giver. They have been a big hit so far, and he likes to do them.

I know that handwritten notes are the gold standard, but I've had very little luck with them. I think that when it comes to a thank-you from a child, most folks are happy to see something nontraditional that obviously took some effort to do. The effort is key, which is why we don't let them do a plain email.

 

[1957]

I get TY notes from my DGD (almost 3) that have progressed from scribbles and traces of apple juice to images that almost look like a stick figures and assorted (crooked) alphabet letters with traces of mac and cheese. Notes are always accompanied by a picture of her actually writing the note. Wouldn't trade this for anything pre-printed!

When I married, my husband and I split hand-writing TY notes for our wedding gifts. This ended pretty quickly, when I read one he wrote that said:

"Dear Aunt Liz. Thank you for the beautiful crystal salad "bowel".

(An engineer who couldn't - and still can't - spell very well!)

 

[Kimmumum]

Two years ago I bought pre-printed TY notes from Michael's Crafts ($1 per each package of 8 cards + envelopes). This is what they say:


Dear ____________________,

Thank you for the ___________________. It really made me happy!

From,
_____________________


It made sending TY notes much easier as my DDs are young. You could easily copy and paste this note into a word document and place a ncie piece of clip art behind or besides the wording. Or place on a ncie piece of stationary. or add a boarder for the kids to color.

They sell these same ones at Target too!