As a teacher and a mother of 2, I have the following conclusion: kids are like people, only smaller ;-). I have just finished a project in my class where we have received many cards. I think there isn’t a group of people who are more enthousiastic about getting cards then kids.
Most populair were the ‘touristic’ parts of the world and fantasy cards. We had a card send from Kapiti, New Zealand, that really wows my childern. Someone at the other side of the world send them a card!
What to say to them? Something about what they see on the front of the card, what hobbies do you have, what really made you smile when you were a kid or now as grown up, themeparks they have to visit, your biggest blooper, a joke, a riddle… Some stickers maybe and you make a childs day a happy day!
I’m still new here. My son 14 years old also has a profile here
He got his own box, buys his own postcards and writes diligently. Not always varied. But with a lot of joy.My greatest joy is to see how this boy, who does not find it easy to laugh during puberty, is happy and happy about every single postcard he receives. No matter what is written, a few kind words about your hobby or your pets are enough.
He has hung a map of the world in his room and marks every place he gets mail from. Our lives have become so much richer through postcrosing. That’s why I’m very much in favor of allowing underage cards to be written.Thank you all for contributing to our new great hobby.
I usually draw something on the card or put some nice/cute stickers and I write about my cats or something, maybe a book I just read (I read YA books and sometimes children books.).
sure, great idea. and tomorrow someone doesn’t want to write to old people, people in specific countries, animals, people with different political views.
and the next thing you know we can go through profiles like we’re shopping at the h&m webshop.
I’m not in favour of opting out of writing to kids. Wouldn’t it be a pity if we excluded children, who are interested in REAL mail, from the game of randomness and surprise that Postcrossing is? Let’s be honest, everyone draws a profile from time to time which makes us feel uncomfortable for some reason. But the rules say that we write a postcard nevertheless. This should apply to kids’ profiles too!
I don’t have children myself, but I remember being a kid who loved getting and writing mail.
I’m sure that kids’ profiles are always recognisable as underage - the parents (who have to guide kids unter 13 in doing Postcrossing) must have a strong interest in making clear that the profile belongs to an underage member.
Teenagers can do Postcrossing without the permission of their parents (see the community guidelines), and in my opinion they can be treated like adults, with a decent postcard suitable for the general liking, and a normal text.
We discussed often about opting out of writing cards to certain people or countries, so that I can link a summary response I’ve written in another topic…
I don’t have kids, so I may be wrong, but I believe that most underage people on postcrossing would be teens, so they wouldn’t need cards written in a special way, just that some topics are avoided because they are inappropriate for them (either in general, or in a communication with a random stranger).
And honestly, all of such topics I can think of are also topics that I would also avoid in a postcard for an adult that didn’t explicitly mention them in their profile (saucy bits, politics, some kind of religious talk, etc.).
My 5 year old son is a postcrosser He can write his own name and decorate and I help him with the other stuff. He has received a lot of nice messages and he is happy with any postcard.
While I understand your initial trepidation about writing to a child, I think you are overthinking this. Just write about who you are, what you like to do. Talk about where you live, etc. You don’t have to talk about toys and Disney!
Also I would reframe this in your mind. The young postcrossers of today are going to be the adult postcrossers of tomorrow! We want people to continue to be engaged in this pastime! Young people who are postcrossers are exposed to different countries and cultures and those are experiences we want to encourage, right? To be honest, I’m a little disappointed that my kids don’t want to do Postcrossing!
I agree. I write to all children, no matter how young, as though they’re reasonably intelligent adults. If they’re so young that they can’t read themselves, their parent (or other adult who is helping them) will be able to explain my message to them.
I personally like writing to kids and think it’s wonderful when they show an interest in participating in this project but then again I have 4 of my own. I think an indicator of some sort would be nice though so others are aware that it’s a minor.
This is lovely to read. I hope your son keeps up postcrossing and continues to enjoy the sending and receiving of postcards from around the world for many more years
Good evening everyone
Just a quick note on this subject. Believe me I understand I have four grown children (26- 18)
But what to write to a young child?
I simply write what I would write to either my 97 year old Grandmother or a 5 year old child on all my cards. I try to respond to things they mention on there " about" page & the only “saucy bits” I talk about are the ones on my pizza .
So far that has kept me out of trouble.
Kids are generally curious about a lot of things. They learn how to cut a banana or spread butter on toast and boom-they are “into cooking”. What was your favorite breakfast growing up? A girl from fhe Neatherlands describes hers. You can bet that the very next morning there is going to be a Hagelslag recreation in the house.
What was your favorite book as a kid? Have we read it? Let’s go to the library and check whether it was issued in our country and if yes, lets see if you will like it too.
Share an interesting fact about your city/country? Oooh, lets see where this city is located on the map. See how far it is from us. Maybe we can plan a summer trip.
And so on and so on. Kids really enjoy the attention they get, they learn and they have fun I really think that kids profiles give way wider variety of topics you can write on than some adults’.
I don’t have strong opinions on whether opting out of sending to children should be an option, but I’m happy to share my formula on what to write. In general, I treat cards going to young children as a mini lesson; kids about 12-14 and older can be treated more like inexperienced adults. I start by looking at their profile and choosing something they are likely unfamiliar with:
If they live in the deserts of Arizona, I’ll tell them of the Swiss mountains that have snow all year round
If they live by the sea in England, I’ll tell them that Switzerland is land-locked and the only places to swim are lakes, rivers and pools
If their parents are librarians, I’ll tell them about my work as a scientist
Then I look for a shared experience or some other connection between my life and theirs
A kid who loves dinosaurs will want to know that I’ve found several fossils on my alpine hikes and that the Jurassic Period was named after the Jura region of Switzerland
Scouts will love hearing about the time I set up a tent in a tree or when my troup stayed in a castle dungeon for a weekend
Most kids like reading or being read to, so telling them about the famous story of Heidi the mountain girl and ask whether they know it
Lastly, I emphasize my love of learning (because what simpler way of being a good role model is there) and ask an easy question about their country or city:
“Is it true that there are lots bridges in Prague?”
“Can you really see koalas in the trees in Australia?”
Another winning option is always “Did you know that [insert well-known fact about your country here]?”
Either they didn’t know it and now do, or they did know and get to feel proud at how clever they are.
I like to keep in mind that the kids of today are the adults of tomorrow, and therefore the ones who are going to be deciding how much funding my nursing home receives. I’d rather they be an open-minded, educationally well-rounded bunch who understand the many differences and similarities in the world, and if repeatedly writing cards about mountains contributes to that, then I’m glad to do my part.
You can tell them an interesting fact about your country, describe unique animals, or simply wish them good luck in school. Basically the same things you would say to other members
Well, if the children are very young, most likely they do Postcrossing with the help of an older relative / friend, who will help them reading the card, registering it and everything.
While if the children are at least 11-12 years old, they are old enough to read and understand a postcard themselves.
So when I get a profile that belongs to a kid I write my postcard more or less in the same way I write every other postcard.
I write about what’s on the postcard, maybe with a curious fact about it. Or, if they say they like a sport o Disney, I tell them which is / was my favourite player / character / children story. And I add some stickers.
I don’t change my language, but maybe I try to write in a clearer way (bigger and more precise letters. Or typed instead of cursive, especially if they are from a country where they use a different alphabet)
I don’t mind kid’s profiles
See no problem
Just send a nice viewcard and write a couple of simple sentences like “the weather is fine today. I hope you and your family are ok”
But sometimes these “kid’s profiles” look ridiculous. It says “I am a girl, I am 8” and the user has been active for more than 10 years
I know some users pretend to be kids. Again no problem for me. There are people who pretend to be animals and trees
I understand that it might look weird, but I’m immediately thinking that originally it might have been the account of one the parents, and they changed it up so their child can use it now. It does not necessarily mean that it’s an adult pretending to be a kid. There is nothing wrong with “handing over” your account to your child, or is there?
and I write about my cats or something, maybe a book I just read (I read YA books and sometimes children books.).
I really think that kids profiles give way wider variety of topics you can write on than some adults’.
