Writing a Letter

Hello everybody! Welcome to Guiding at Home. So for the first activity I thought we could start kinda simple, by reaching out to someone to show them that we care in the forms of a letter. Writing a letter might seem like a daunting task, as what are you supposed to say? How do you address the person ? How do I end it? Well don't worry that's why I am here to help you. I love to receive letters because they are personal and you can see the time and effort that someone has put into contacting you, it warms your heart to know someone cares about you. During this quarantine I think it's important that we share the love and it shows that you are upholding the Guide Promise 'to help other people' as you are lifting others spirits and caring about them.

First of all let's decide who we are going to send it to, you could write it to a grandparent or an aunt / uncle or your best friend or your neighbour or that elderly lady across the road. There are so many options and so many people who would love to hear what you have to say. If you can't decide why not write multiple letters? I'm going to write to my nan, she doesn't live that far away but I know she misses us very much so I know she would love a letter. 

So you have chosen the person, now need to know how to set up the letter. If you want to just write the letter without any fancy layout then go ahead but I'm going to show you the formal way a letter is set up. This way is usually used in business but can be adjusted for more casual use. So first of all you go to the top right corner of your page and write your full name. Underneath your name you write your address so if they want to reply they know where to send the letter to. Once again, still top right, underneath the address you write the date. Some people underneath the date like to write their phone number and email as another way to contact. Well done, that's the first stage of set up done! 

The next part is optional but in business, with all the fancy people in suits, they like the write the details of the person they are sending the letter to. This is positioned on the left side of the page underneath your details. You write their name and then under it their address.

Now we have all the details out the way, how do we start the letter? Well depending on who it is there are multiple of ways to do it. You can simple say hello and write the letter or you can start with dear and then their name and write. It's really up to you, you might just want to write their name and write the rest of the letter. If I was writing to my Nan I would start "Hello Nan" for example because I know her but if I was writing to someone who I wasn't that close to or don't know I would write "Dear Mr Johnson" as it is seen as a polite and a formal way to address someone new. 

Now let's write the letter, in fancy suit jobs most start with a short paragraph or sentence to explain why they are sending a letter for example "I am writing a letter to inform you that suits aren't cool anymore and we should start wearing tracksuits". This just gives the person receiving the letter a brief description of what they can expect to read about in the rest of the letter. You could do this and tell your person why you wanted to write them a letter. Do you miss them? Do you want to update them on what you are doing? Do you want to let them know that you love them? Whatever ever the reason write one or two sentences explaining your reason.

After this all you have to do is write what you want to talk to them about. You can tell them what you have been doing at home, how school work is going, something that interests you or you can ask them questions hopefully encouraging them to reply to your letter. Personally I'm going to write to my Nan about a really interesting book I just read. 

After you have poured your heart out to them and told them everything you want to its time to sign off the letter. This part, in my opinion, is the hardest part because there are quite a few different phrases you can use but they are meant for different people. So let's start with the very formal ways to end a letter, these are for people who you don't know, 'Yours sincerely' or 'Yours respectfully' or 'Yours truly' or 'Yours faithfully'. A still formal way, but a friendlier tone, way to to sign of is with 'Kind regards' or 'Yours appreciatively'. Now if have written to a family member or someone you are close to you can sign of with 'Best wishes' or 'Warm regards' or simply 'Lots of love from'. Sign your name after and you have written your letter! Well done! 

I hope you enjoyed this first activity, I would love to hear who you wrote your letter to and what you wrote to them about so feel free to leave a comment :)Now all you have to do is post it to them, if they live close by slip it through their mailbox or write their address on an envelope, stick a post-it-stamp on it and mail it away! They are really going to appreciate all your love and words. If you want to push yourself, why not draw a picture and post it with your letter? 

Thank you for reading and make sure you keep safe and keep on Guiding!