How to Make a Mailbox for Preschool

Preschoolers can make a mailbox to collect their Valentine's Day cards.

Preschoolers love receiving mail and helping their parents to drop letters into the mailbox. Preschool teachers can guide their preschoolers in making their own mailboxes to receive homemade Valentine's Day cards from their classmates. Preschoolers will be delighted when they get to take their mailboxes home and read all of the special cards inside it.

Things You'll Need

• Shoe box
• Wrapping paper
• Scissors
• Tape
• Markers
• Stickers

Instructions

1. Collect shoe boxes by asking parents to send them in to school.

2. Cover the shoe boxes with wrapping paper. The wrapping paper can be a solid color, or it can have a decoration on it.

3. Cut a rectangle out of the top of the shoebox. It should be large enough to fit a Valentine card. A slit 1/2 inch wide and 3 inches long should be just fine.

4. Give the children markers to write their names on the sides of the mailbox. You can help children who are still learning how to write their name.

5. Instruct the children to decorate their mailbox with stickers. Heart-shaped stickers are especially nice to use on Valentine's Day.

6. Set the mailboxes on the corner of each child's desk to collect Valentine cards as the children bring them in.

Tips & Warnings

• If you don't have a shoebox, you can use an old coffee can. Just make sure you clean it first.

• Preschoolers should only use specially designed scissors made for preschoolers. Other scissors are too large, and too sharp for small hands.

References

• Preschool Learning and Crafts: Make Creative Valentine Boxes
• Artists Helping Children: Valentine's Day Mailbox Card Craft