What to Put In a Letter To a Pen Pal

Everybody loves getting letters. This summer a few of my friends and I have decided to send letters back and forth, letting each other know what we're up to during the break. It's so exciting to get your letter in the mail but sometimes it can be hard to know what to write back. Luckily, I've got some tips, tricks and ideas to help you get started.

So you've received your first letter from your pen-pal. Or you have an even more daunting situation, you're the one who has to write the first letter. Sometimes you can stare at a blank page for what seems like hours and still not know what to write. If you feel like you just don't have enough to say to fill up that huge paper, make the paper smaller. Cut it down, cut it into a shape or fold it and turn it into a card. Or try writing as much as you can and filling the empty space with pictures or doodles. If your problem is more of the inspirational type and you just don't know what to say, try coming back to it. Make a few other things to send to your friend along with their letter first and then try writing again later. If all else fails just pick the best day you've had this week and tell them about it. 

My first idea for fun things to add to your letters is a personalized playlist. You can make these about whatever you want. New music that you think your friend will like, songs based off of each month or season (think fun, upbeat music for summer or slower more mellow songs for fall) or things like a playlist for long road trips. The sky's the limit! Cue cards are super nice to write out your playlists on because since they're so small that they fit nicely into envelopes and also purses, phone cases or binder-covers once your pen-pal receives them.

Another thing to add is an idea for something fun to do. Sometimes during the summer it's easy to stay at home and feel like there's nothing to do. A recommendation for an activity is a great way to give your friend some ideas and help them plan a fun day, even if you're miles away. 

You can suggest things you usually do together, going to a festival or event you know is coming up that they may not have heard about or something that you tried recently and had lots of fun with. Odds are if you had a good time, your friend could too.

Got some polaroids or instant pictures that just didn't turn out? They're too dark or too light or you honestly don't know what's going on in them? Don't throw them out! You can turn these weird, confusing photos and turn them into a game to send to your pen pals.

All you have to do is send your photo to a friend with instructions to write the funniest, strangest, or scariest story about what they think the picture is of and how it got caught on film. Ask them to send their answer back to you and if you plan to send the photo to more than one person, ask for that back as well. You can even offer a prize for whoever writes your favourite story by the end of the summer. It doesn't have to be something huge, maybe you'll buy the winner fries from your cafeteria in September or you'll give them a cool, homemade pin. It's all up to you. This can be a fun little game for friends as well as giving your pal something to write about in their next letter to you. Bonus!

Remember, this is your letter to your friend. Feel free to customize what you add based on what you think they'd like. You can always add in some cute extras like stickers, doodles, your killer cookies recipe or patches.

The last step is to send your letter and all its goodies out into the world. To address it just put your friend's name, address (including street address, province/state and country), and postal/zip code on the centre of the envelope and yours in the top left corner. This is your return address so that in case your friend moved or you accidentally spelled the name of their street wrong (oops) the letter can be sent back to you to try again. And remember a stamp! To find out how many you need, just google "stamp requirements from ________ to ________". 

Have fun and good luck on your letters !