Appropriate grades or age groups:
Elementary School
Middle School
High School & Beyond

Estimated time to complete project or implement technique:
30 minutes-1 hour

Materials needed (if applicable):
notebook paper, lined stationery, stamps, pen and pencil.

Project instructions or description of technique:
Have your kids write thank you notes, letters to the editor, and comments on how they liked a product or book or show or whatever else you can think of. Do this maybe every other week. Allow them to compose the letter in pencil, then help them with minor corrections to make it easily readable, but allow the child's basic structure to remain. As time passes, you can focus on different skills in turn; handwriting, punctuation, spelling and syntax.

Other suggestions or comments:
Require thank you notes for gifts, otherwise, let the kids choose to whom they'd like to send their messages, with suggestions and encouragement from you steering them in a good direction. The letters should be mainly those of praise, but from time to time, kids may wish to write a complaint about a misleading commercial or a practice they see that disturbs them. You can use this opportunity to help children learn about research, and also how to effectively get a "negative" message across diplomatically.

Finally, encourage them to read the letters to the editor of magazines they receive, online sites they go to, perhaps the newspaper editorials for older kids. There are also books by various columnists that feature letters they've received and their responses; appropriate for different ages, many are quite humorous and fun to read aloud.