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How to Make a Mailbox for a Preschool Post Office

Preschoolers learn about about the world and how it works by creative play and pretend grown-up activities. Rather than spending hundreds of dollars on fancy commercially made preschool classroom mailboxes, make one with this fun and easy craft project. Preschoolers will love pretending to be a letter carrier. You can create this simple mailbox and post office with supplies you probably already have on hand. And as an added bonus, you'll be putting your junk mail to good use.

Things You'll Need

Four large empty cereal boxes, all the same size
Clear tape
Scissors
Colored construction paper
Markers
Crayons
Stickers
Assorted junk mail
Extra envelopes

Instructions

- 1
  Cut the top flaps off of four cereal boxes.
- 2
  Make cubby-like mail slots by stacking two of the cereal boxes one on top of the other. Tape the sides together. Do the same for the second set of two boxes.
- 3
  Cover all of the visible surfaces of the boxes with construction paper, making each box a different color. Use markers to write the names of the preschoolers on the sides of the covered boxes, dividing them evenly among the children. You can also have the children decorate the boxes with crayons. Set the two sets of mailboxes side by side, forming a cubby mail slot area.
- 4
  Give the preschoolers collected junk mail and extra envelopes to use for their pretend post office play center. Show them how to use stickers for stamps. Have the children write the names of their friends on the junk mail and help them to distribute the "letters" in the appropriate mailboxes.
- 5
  Cut some construction paper sheets in half. Fold the halves in half, and have the preschoolers write their names inside. Then ask them to write a friend's name on the outside, and stamp the "card" with a sticker. Have the children deliver the cards.
- 6
  Make "letters" from folded construction paper to match the colors of the boxes. Create a color sorting activity by asking the children to distribute the mail into the mailbox with the matching color.

Educational Toys