Wish You Were Here

Social Studies Activity

Children will take a closer look at the world just outside their doors and share their experiences with their classmates.

WHAT YOU NEED

• 8" x 5" cards cut from oak tag
• Different kinds of stickers (optional)
• Colored markers and crayons

WHAT TO DO

1. Have children talk about some everyday kinds of trips that they have taken. To get them started, suggest places such as the mall, the supermarket, the dentist's office, a neighbor's house, or even their own backyards. Explain to children that sometimes surprising things can happen in ordinary places. One way to share these trips is to make a post card that shows and tells about the experience.

2. Give each child one 8" x 5" card to turn into a post card. You may wish to pass around examples of post cards in case some children are not familiar with the format.

3. On the left half of one side of the card, tell children to write about a place, such as one they talked about in their discussion. On the right half of the same side have them address the post card to a classmate. (You may wish to review address writing with children.) They can draw their own stamp or use a sticker. On the other side of the card, have children illustrate their "trip."

4. Children can hand deliver their post cards or slip them into their classmates' desks or cubbies. Later you may wish to collect all the post cards and store them in a special box so that other children can browse through them during their free time.

5. Children with email accounts and access to graphical WWW browsers may wish to create and send a post card electronically. To do so, guide to one of the following free Internet postcard services.
   Note that you should review all postcards in advance. These sites are not specifically for children.

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   The Electric Postcard
   The Electric Postcard is a free WWW service that allows you to choose a postcard with any of several different themes, from Insect Drawings to Van Gogh paintings, and write a message on it to a friend, using a simple form. Electric Postcard will notify the postcard recipient via email to go to the Electric Postcard Pickup Window to view the personalized postcard and message. The Electric Postcard was designed and is maintained by Judith Donath at the MIT Media Lab.
   http://postcards.www.media.mit.edu/Postcards/