Children learn to write letters by writing real ones to real people: a thank-you to a grandparent, a postcard to a friend, a letter to a favourite author. This page gives a simple layout that children can follow, six activities that build the skills letters need, and a few notes for the adult helping. It suits roughly ages six to eleven, and the later activities match what English lessons cover in that range.
A letter layout for children
Your address (just the house and street is fine) The date Dear Grandma, What you want to say. A new line when you change the subject. A question for them at the end. Love from, Your name
Three things make it a letter rather than a note: it starts with “Dear” and a name, it ends with a sign-off and the writer’s name, and it is addressed to a person. Everything else can be learned later. A formal letter (to a school, a company or a council) adds the reader’s address, uses “Dear Mr Brown” or “Dear Sir or Madam”, and ends “Yours sincerely” or “Yours faithfully”; see Formal Letter Format when a child is ready for that.
Six activities
1. Write your own letter
Choose a real recipient who will write back: a relative, a friend who has moved, a pen pal through school. Plan three things to tell them and one question to ask. Write it out, check the name and the date, put it in an envelope, write the address on the front in the middle and the stamp top right, and post it together. The reply is the reward, and the motivation for the next letter.
2. Arguing a case
Letters are a good way to learn persuasion. Pick something the child wants to change: a later bedtime, a class pet, a bench in the park. The letter needs a clear request in the first line, two or three reasons each in its own paragraph, an answer to the strongest objection, and a polite ending that repeats the request. Reading it aloud to the “judge” (a parent, a teacher) and hearing the verdict makes the structure stick.
3. Commenting on writing
Give the child a short letter with deliberate problems: a missing greeting, a muddled order, no question at the end, two spelling mistakes. Ask what they would tell the writer to improve, using “I like… I wonder…” so the comments are kind and specific. Then swap: they write, you comment. Learning to read as a reader is how children start to check their own work.
4. Giving instructions
A letter that explains how to do something (how to look after the hamster while we are away, how to play our favourite game) teaches order and precision. Number the steps, start each with a verb, and test the instructions by having someone follow them exactly, which is usually funny and always instructive.
5. Making a leaflet
Leaflets often go with letters, and they teach the difference between writing to one person and writing to many. Fold a sheet of paper in three. The front needs a title and a picture; inside, three short sections with headings; the back, how to find out more. A leaflet for a school fair, a lost cat or a made-up holiday resort all work. Keep the sentences short and the biggest news biggest.
6. Story letters
Many personal letters tell a story: what happened on holiday, at the match, on the first day of school. Practise with a letter from a character: a knight writing home from a castle, an astronaut writing to a sister, a dog writing to its owner. The letter still needs the layout, but the middle is a story with a beginning, a middle and an end, told in the first person. This is also the easiest way into writing to a favourite author, which many authors and publishers answer.
Addressing the envelope
Children often find the envelope the most exciting part. The name goes on the first line, then the house number and street, the town and the postcode, each on its own line, in the middle of the front. The stamp goes in the top right corner. A return address on the back means the letter comes home if it cannot be delivered. Writing the postcode in capitals helps the sorting machines read it.
Tips for the adult helping
- Let the child choose the recipient and the subject. A letter they want to send is worth ten exercises.
- Draft first, on scrap paper, in whatever spelling comes out. Correct a few things together, then write the neat copy.
- Praise the content before the handwriting or the spelling. The point of a letter is what it says.
- Keep the replies. A box of received letters is a reason to keep writing.
- For older children, introduce one convention at a time: the date, then the sign-off rule, then addresses. The Writing Conventions page lists them.
Templates to copy
Older children writing a letter to an organisation can use the Business Letter Template; for letters to friends and family, the Personal Letter Template shows where everything goes. Worked examples of finished letters are on the Letter Writing Examples page.