Make a Mini Mailbox
In this activity, we will use recycled materials to create a personal mailbox. Typically, mailboxes are placed in front of a house or apartment and used by the postman to drop off and pick up letters and small packages. Our personal mailbox can be used to send unofficial mail to others and store various small items such as pictures, drawings, toys, or other trinkets to others in your home!
This activity guide is inspired by the picture book Dear Primo: A Letter to My Cousin, written and illustrated by Duncan Tonatiuh. The book follows two cousins who live in different places—Charlie lives in a city in America and Carlitos lives on a farm in Mexico. They communicate with each other by writing and sending letters. In these letters, they share stories and learn to appreciate one another as they learn about the differences in their lives.
Rediscover thanks Alex Wilensky, María José Urrestarazu, and Hannah Dahl at Prescott Enriched Sciences Magnet Elementary School in Los Angeles and the University of Washington Library and Information Sciences Master's Program for their contributions to our curriculum library, including this project!
We've added Dear Primo: A Letter to My Cousin to the Chill Zone at reDiscover Center. Find this book during your next visit for some confidence inspiration or follow along this Read Aloud.
STEP 1 - Reflect on the story
- Where do you live? And what kind of environment surrounds your home? How does your neighborhood change how you live?
- What makes your neighborhood special or unique?
- What would you share with someone about where you live and what you do?
- Do you have family or friends living in other countries? What would you want to know and learn about those places?
- Have you visited other countries or places before? What makes them different from where you live?
- How do you feel when you visit someplace different or new?
Making Techniques: In this activity, we will learn how to secure pieces of cardboard using an L-brace, safely use a hot glue gun, create holes with a screwdriver, and make connections with brads.
STEP 2 - Gather your Materials
Tools:
- Hot glue gun
- Cardboard scissors/saw
- Brads
- Screwdriver
Materials:
- Cardboard or old shoe box
- Bottle caps
- Newspaper/magazines
- Shoelaces/string
- Beads, buttons, gemstones
- Paint markers
- Paperclips
- Cut up t-shirts or fabric
- Paper or plastic straw
STEP 3 - Build the main body of the mailbox
If you are using a shoe box, you can skip this step and go to Step 3.
If you are not using a shoe box, cut out 5 equal-sized squares of cardboard that are large enough to fit a piece of paper in the bottom. You can use a ruler to help you measure pieces of equal size.
Using small, long strips of cardboard, make an L brace, which can be used to piece two separate pieces of cardboard together. Then hot glue the L-brace to the larger cardboard pieces at the corner. If you do not have small strips of cardboard, you can use a canary cutter or scissors to cut a larger one into a smaller size.
STEP 4 - Attach a mail flag to the box
Cut out any desired shape from fabric, construction paper, or any material of your choice. Possible shapes: circle, triangle, square, rectangle, oval.
Attach a long, thin piece of cardboard to the flag shape you have just cut out using hot glue. This is your flag pole. On the other end of the cardboard, use your screwdriver or scissors to make a small hole at the bottom of your flag pole.
Then, make a hole similar in size into the main portion of the mailbox in the location where you’d like to attach the flag.
Place the brad into the small hole you made on the flag pole. Then, insert the brad with the flag through the hole you made in the box. Press the arms of the brads down and flat in order to secure it tightly.
STEP 5 - Decorate the outside of the mailbox
Decorate the mailbox to represent your home, neighborhood, or community using a variety of materials such as bottlecaps, paperclips, beads, buttons, cardboard, fabric, wrapping paper, and magazines. Feel free to decorate both the inside and outside of the mailbox.
ADULT HELPERS
For any tips on how to use specific tools safely, visit our YouTube library for Tiny Techniques.
RESOURCES
Visit the Techniques tab in reDiscover Center's Pedagogy Resources to access our Tiny Techniques videos and get tips for working safely and efficiently with tools.
Once you have finished your mailbox, show them to your grownups and friends! If you want to share a picture on social media, be sure to tag @RediscoverCtr. We'd love to see what you made!
Activity Guide written by Hannah Dahl.
