Postcards, etc.

The Great American Postcard Swap is off and running!  Hooray!  Group 1 is swapping, Group 2 is starting this week, and Group 3 will start two weeks from now. 

I've had a few questions as to what kind of postcard should be sent and what should we put on the back.  Good questions.  The postcards should be state themed, meaning they should have something to do with the state you live in.  We have received 4 postcards so far (so exciting!) and they are each great examples. 

On the back?  Tell us a little bit about your state.  And about yourself if you would like.  Or just list some fun facts about your state.  You can write it by hand, print it on paper and glue it on the card, or print it out on an address label and stick it on. 

What do you do when you receive the postcards in the mail?  My kids always check the mail.  As soon as they see a postcard, they start yelling, "Moooooooom!  Mom, mom, mom, MOM!  We got one, we got one!"  If it is a reading child they also yell out where it came from.  We get everyone together, read what the card says, then find it on the big U.S. map we have on our family room wall.  I printed out a smaller U.S. map for each of the kids as well.  Found them at Eduplace.com.  The kids locate the state on the smaller map and color it in.  The bigger kids learn the state capital as well.  Over the next couple of days we learn a little more about the state.  Things like state flower or state animal, farming or industries, when it became a state, and sometimes I slip in a big historical event or famous person.  We don't do much at once, just a little here and there.  I'm amazed at what even Miss Monkey is learning and remembering.  We write it down on regular lined paper and keep it in a binder we now call our "States Book" along with the kids' maps. 

Learning Table has been posting some great resources about each state, including a link to some nice notebooking pages to use as you learn about the states. 

Caroline of river-girl.com made this sweet envelope for storing her postcards. 

Havin' Fun Yet? is giving away a couple of educational DVD's about Arkansas that were produced by the Secretary of State's office!  Fun, Fun, Fun!

Patrizzia of iCreate and her daughter are quite busy as well!

Any more ideas to share?