August Letter Writing Topics

How has your letter-writing gone this year? I hope that by now, if you have sponsor kids, you have written to them at least a few times this year! Here are some ideas to get you started.

1. Best Friends. My best friend's birthday is in August. Her name is Kelli. What's your best friend's name? How long have you known each other? Where did you meet? Do you have a lot in common, or are you complete opposites? What do you have in common? What do you like to do together? Do you get to see your best friend very often, or do you just see each other occasionally? Do you know your sponsor child's best friend's name? If not, now would be the perfect time to ask! Ask her about her best friend, and what they like to do together. Maybe you could even send some matching sets of stickers or coloring books for your sponsor child and his best friend! I love to tell my kids about my friends. I always tell them when we get together for my birthday and Christmas. I tell them that we get together to talk and have fun, and share a meal together. 
2. School. Now is the time that most kids in the United States are heading back to school. If you have kids, how are they getting ready? Are they happy to go back? What grades will they be going into this year? Did you enjoy going back to school when you were a kid? Even if it wasn't your favorite time of year, you can still encourage your sponsor child in his or her schooling. Now is the perfect  time to stock up on flat, papery gifts for your sponsor child, too! You can get stickers, certificates, coloring and activity pages, calendars, maps, and all sorts of fun stuff this time of year!
3. Local holidays- Indian independence day. India's independence day is celebrated in August. I personally am very interested in the story of India's path to independence, which of course includes the famous activist Mahatma Gandhi. Have you ever read about this important time in history? Now would be a good time! Even if you don't have a sponsor child in India, perhaps you could write to your sponsor child about peace, which was Gandhi's goal. Do you have a favorite Bible verse about peace? Share it with  your sponsor child! Tell him that you are praying for peace in his country. Explain to her the importance of having a relationship with the Prince of Peace- Jesus.
4. Kids. My husband and I have six or seven friends or relatives who are expecting babies this year, and almost all of them are due in August. We also have some friends who are in the process of adopting from other countries, are about to start the process, or have just wrapped it up! If you are close to someone who has welcomed a child into their family recently, you could write to your sponsor child about that. When Brandon's cousin and his wife had their first baby two months early, I wrote to my sponsor kids and told them that we were going to have a party for the mom and new baby, but the baby came early- the day of the party! I asked them each to pray for baby Alexander, that he would grow up big and strong even though he was born early. I got some really sweet responses from my kids! And earlier this year, I sent each of our kids a picture of Alexander's baby brother! Our sponsor kids love learning about what's going on in our lives- and that includes new friends and family members!
5. Maps. This one kind of goes along with the back to school topic, but I think it would be fun to send a letter with a little geography lesson. You could use a distance calculator to figure out how far away your sponsor child is from where you live, and talk about that in the letter- but be sure to mention that even though you live far away, your sponsor child is close to your heart! You can also send some maps to your sponsor child- binder atlases that are sold with school supplies, the laminated kind you can find at the dollar tree, or you could even print one yourself. Use a marker or stickers to label where you live, and the area where your sponsor child lives. I keep my kids' letters in binders, and on the cover of each I've made a map with clip art. I have a world map with a heart marking where I live and where each kid lives, with a dotted line connecting us!