Add some variety to your preschool pretend play center by creating some simple mailboxes and putting that extra junk mail to good use. Preschoolers can learn a lot about the way the world works by participating in pretend play activities. Give preschoolers a chance to be a postman with only a few simple props.

What You Need

For The Mailboxes:

Several empty cereal boxes
Colored construction paper
Scotch tape
Safety scissors

For the Mail:

Assorted junk mail
Extra envelopes
Folded pieces of construction paper
Crayons
Extra stickers

What To Do

Step One:

Use safety scissors to cut the top flaps off of several empty cereal boxes.

Step Two:

Stack the empty cereal boxes together to form several cubby-like openings. Your mailbox will be more stable if you limit it to 2 or 3 boxes high. You can easily make it larger by taping cereal boxes side by side to make it wider.

Step Three:

Cover the exposed area of the mailbox with colored construction paper. Preschoolers can decorate the outside of the mailbox if they want. Write each preschoolers name on the inside of the boxes.

Create Mail:

Collect extra envelopes and junk mail for preschoolers to use in their post office pretend play center. Preschoolers can make their own pieces of mail by writing letters on pieces of construction paper, folding it in half, and writing their name or the names of their friends on the outside. Use extra stickers as “stamps” that preschoolers can add to their mail.

Variation

Label each mailbox with a separate color. Provide preschoolers with a collection of letters in each of the colors that are on the mailboxes. Use the mailbox as a color sorting activity by having preschoolers fill each mailbox with letters of the same color.