Send a Postcard

The world's oldest known postcard was first sent in 1840. Since then, postcards have been flying around the world. Possessing brief messages and requiring cheaper postage than a standard letter, postcards are ideal for sharing a quick note of something funny, delightful, and heartfelt. 

Creating and sending postcards can also be wonderful opportunities for creativity and expression. The links and ideas below can help you perfect your postcard message, look, and learn more about where to send it.

Activities

Here is an easy postcard printable for you to print out on card stock and create just the way you want.

Interested in jazzy lettering for that postcard? Check out this Creativebug course for a lesson on creative lettering taught by artist and journaler, Pam Garrison.

Or make a postcard out of fabric!

Want to create personalized postcards? Check out the vast library of free customizable templates on Canva. Or design your own photo postcard here.

Books

The world of PostSecret by Frank (Frank C.) Warren

An addictive collection of new full-color postcard secrets and app secrets from the author of the smash the #1 New York Times bestselling PostSecret books--with more secrets than any previous PostSecret book!

A decade ago, Frank Warren began a community art project that captured the popular imagination and became a worldwide obsession. He handed out postcards to strangers and left them in public places--asking people to share a secret they had never told anyone and mail them back to him anonymously. More than half a million secrets, 600 million hits to the award-winning PostSecret blog, and five huge bestsellers later, the PostSecret phenomenon is bigger than ever. By turns funny, heartbreaking, thoughtful, and moving, this compendium of graphic haiku offers an intimate glimpse into both individual private lives and into our shared humanity.

Agnes has a beak that can crush bones and arms and stretch wide as a car--but that doesn't make her a monster! After she comes across a postcard, Agnes, a giant Pacific octopus, strikes up a correspondence with various other creatures below--and above--the waves. Readers will delight in this unlikely introduction to the octopus life cycle.

Resources

Wonder what postcards looked like in the very beginning? The New York Public Library has digital collections of many old postcards from the holidays and even postcards made by the Detroit Publishing Company.

Interested in sending your postcard to someone around the world? Postcrossing provides the address for someone who would love to read your note. 

Cheer up the day of a child displaced by war or poverty. The organization Any Refugee welcomes homemade postcards for delivering messages of hope and encouragement.

 

Head back to the 62 Days of Summer home page for more ways to participate in the summer program!