Rainy Day Encouragement

I have been wanting to find a fun way to encourage our kids to begin thinking of ways they can encourage and show kindness to others around them. I want it to be second nature for them. While our kids are far from perfect, Grant and Peyton both seem to have a sweet and sensitive heart to each other. There have been times when I take one of the boys out and they will get a treat like a free cookie from the Publix bakery or balloon for example. It never fails that the one who is with me will always ask for a treat for his brother who is back at home. There have been times when Grant will get a cookie for dessert and he will literally want to break it into fourths so that everyone gets a bite. For now, it seems like this is just in their nature to be thinking of others but I want to continue building off of this and do it in a fun way to where this HOPEFULLY will continue to be second nature.
The boys always love any kind of craft so I thought why not just combine their love for arts and crafts with trying to help teach a valuable lesson. So, since we couldn't go outside because of the rain, today we used all our craft supplies to make a mailbox for the purpose of encouraging one another. The idea is whenever Grant, Peyton, (and one day when Landon is old enough )thinks of something nice to do or give to one another, they put it in each other's mailbox. Today we took shoe boxes and I cut squares from some wrapping paper of their favorite characters and gave them stickers and our other craft supplies and we decorated shoe boxes to make as their mailboxes. They even got to paint their names with letter sponges which was one of their favorite parts of the activity. We finished their mailboxes by adding a little red flag and whenever they put something in a mailbox, they know to lift the flag so the other brother knows to check his mailbox.
I'm sure this was not just my original idea so you can probably find something out there about how to make a more realistic looking mailbox and an even more creative way to do this, but I just took things we already had and we had such a fun time together!

It was a lot of fun for the boys opening up their mailboxes and finding anything from drawings and coloring pages to colorful erasers and toys they like but chose to give to one another. Even Landon got excited and flashed a huge smile to Grant when he handed him a picture he colored and cut out to make it small for Landon to hold. However, this is not just for them to give each other little drawings and other sweet keepsakes. Vince and I will also be giving them little love notes and encouraging notes. While we tell them daily how much we love them, getting words of encouragement to hang on to and keep will hopefully make them feel good too. I know I still get excited to get letters and cards in the mail and I keep them in a special place, so why not encourage our kids by letting them share in the joy and excitement when they get a special piece of mail too?

Here are some pictures from our day....













Peyton looking at his mail from Grant and Grant is explaining his picture...



More goodies for Peyton from Grant. Grant is enjoying watching Peyton look at all the things he put in his mailbox for him..


Landon with his mailbox and the picture Grant colored and cut out for him. I wish I could have known he would have reacted with such a HUGE smile the first time Grant gave it to him so that I could have gotten a picture.