From about the age of 5 I have the kids “fill in the blanks” I make for various letters on a thank you note.  THANK YOU FOR THE _ _ _ _ (doll, child writes)!  I _ _ _ _ (love, child writes) you!  That way they are participating and learning the importance of writing the notes and thanking people but it isn’t so time consuming.  Then they draw a little picture.  I think taking a picture with them and the toy is a good idea for certain people, perhaps just sending it over the computer about the same time they might receive the note.  My 8 y/o daughter really knows what writing thank you notes is all about now and writes them independently.  I think it’s an important thing to do, albeit another task on the list!

With my little ones who are too young to write, I take a quote from them about the gift.  I say “What do you want to say to Grandma about the doll she gave you?”  And they say something completely irrelevant and hilarious, (like “this baby doll looks like she has lipstick on!”) and I just write it down.  So Grandma gets a thank you, and a laugh.

For the under 4 crowd I do the same as Regina.  Once they can sort of write (age 4-5) I have them copy “Thank you!” Love, XYZ”  on a small folded piece of construction paper with a drawn picture on the front. When they are K - 2nd I have them write a proper, simple letter.  “Dear So & So, Thank you for the x.  I’ll use/wear it when abc. Thank you for thinking of me. Love, Johnny”  I’ve also done what Kathleen has posted -especially if the child is a slow writer and is getting frustrated.  When my eldest was 9 I started getting her personalized stationery.  She loves it and uses it to write her notes.

My oldest turned 4 in October.  For her birthday notes, I wrote my version of the note on one side of the card.  On the other side, I wrote “Thank You” in pencil and she traced the letters on each card (she was a little nervous about writing her letters at the time).  Just a couple months later she loves writing her letters.  We wrote family thank you notes for our Christmas gifts.  I wrote out the notes and she signed each of our names.  She signed them from her, her brother and “mom” and “dad”.  At least she put forth the effort and was involved.  I’m sure the recipients will know who they are from.

I would typically have my son decorate the card in whatever way he chose, and I wrote the note for him and read it back to him so he understood what we are doing. He’s 6 now, and this year I bought some cute fill-in-the-blank thank you’s. I think he just has to write in the recipient’s name, the gift, and his name. I think next year he should be able to write a short note without the fill-in-the blank card.

My 4 year old just had his birthday after Thanksgiving. I made postcards and had him decorate the front. I just gave him stickers and crayons and he went to town.

I (sometimes) have my two year old color thank yous or letter to his faraway grandparents.  He can’t write/talk much yet but adults always appreciate scribbles!

this year I plan to have my children (ages 2 and 3) select a picture from a coloring book to color for each person that needs to receive a thank you. Then, I will place this picture folded in a regular thank you card and add my note of thanks. I think this will convey genuine gratitude and time spent thanking the person as well as reinforce the idea of being grateful to my children. I know the grandparents will definitely enjoy receiving a colored picture from the kids.

When the kids are too young to write the Thank you note themselves, I write it in their voice and sign their name w/their scribble or signature.  My son wrote all his own thank you notes for the first time on his 6th birthday last month.  They were pretty basic, but he loved doing it. My older daughter who is 8 just loves writing hers and is getting better at it. In the past, I’ve included a picture of my child with the gift with the thank you note.

When my sister was that age my mother would have her “draw” and then my mother would write a little something like, “Thank you for the X.”  When my sister got big enough, she’d sign her own name, but up to that point, I think my mother signed her name for her. 

In my own family, hubby is a photo geek, so he takes pictures of our son playing with the gift and then we call to say “thank you and you can see a picture of our son using the thing you gave him on our photo website.”  When he’s older, he’ll learn to write thank-you notes.  Until then, I have enough of my own to write since I’m a teacher.

When my children were younger ( two to four) I would have them draw a picture and I would write a simple “Thank you for the (whatever). I like it very much ! Love,( their name). By the time they were about five, I helped them type a thank you note online and sign their name to it. Once they got to be about eight or nine, they either typed their own thank you or wrote it. I of course read everyone just to make sure .Now that my kids are teenagers, they pretty much do their own and hand them to me to mail.

Here’s a cute method using a photo:
http://doobleh-vay.blogspot.com/2008/12/is-hidden-away-in-memorys-bouquet.html

I leave part of the thank you card for my almost 5yo to draw a picture on, and then, since she usually has a commentary about what she’s drawn, I try to record it somewhere there.  Relatives and friends get a kick out of this.  For many of them, these are some of the only thank you cards they get.

I admit I haven’t written thank you cards yet this year, but I think I’ll let them draw (kids are 4-almost-5 and 2) and be involved.  I don’t remember/know who all the presents came from (don’t get me started on that; I’m a bit frustrated about how the opening went at my in-laws’!), but I know that they’ll appreciate the thank yous all the same.

It’s also a good practice for me, reminding me that all these people, however annoying they may be, love me, love my children, and show it through their generosity.

THis year I am going have the girls decorate blank note cards, and then I will write the note on the inside.  It means that they have to take the time and effort out, and they know it is as a thank you for the gifts they have received.

I just wanted to say that I think sending a picture of the kid playing with or wearing the new gift is great, especially when not able to write or even draw much themselves yet. If you have easy access to print pictures at home, this is something I would do.

I do the same thing as Diane and others.  When my children are young, I give them 1/4 of a piece of drawing paper and ask them to illustrate something Nana or Uncle or Grandma and Grandpa would like to put on their fridge.  Then I ask them what they would like to say, and I write it for them and have them sign (or scribble)

My daughter (who just turned 12) has been requesting pretty/funny “thank you cards” as part of her Christmas list, or birthday requests and writes them herself.  (I am very proud that she does this!)

When I was younger, my Mum would take a piece of typing paper/art paper and fold it into thirds.  Then, each of us would take one portion of the paper and decorate/write on it, before sending it in an envelope.

I remember one of a set of our Grandparents who were mad that one of our cousins NEVER sent a thank you note and so they quit buying him presents…...that was enough of an inspiration as a child to keep up with my thank you notes!

So far I write the thank you notes on behalf of my 23-month old (for gifts that the giver isn’t with him when he opens).

We were taught from a very young age (not sure how much was really understood) that you always sent a Thank You note for any gift received or you did not get to keep the gift sent even if you thanked the giver at the time it was received and opened.  Until we were able to print we would only scribble what we thought was our name.  But it must have stuck as I am doing the same with my kids even if they thank the givers at the time they receive and open the gift.  I have been using those pre fill in cards that have been mentioned above until they are able to print on their own.

Emily Post says that you only have to send thank you notes for gifts that were not received in person.  Of course, I write thank you notes for birthday gifts.  But not for Christmas gifts that were exchanged among family and friends present.

I remember doing thank you letters when I was a child.  Funny, I guess that had died out.  We don’t actually have to do any thank you letters because the kids mostly only get gifts from people who are there when they open them.  I guess it would be a good habit to at least get them to write a thank you gift to my parents though, since they are far away…  Thanks for reminding me.

I have my five-year-old tell me what she wants to write.  I write it down and then she now signs her name.  At the bottom, I write “dictated, but not read”.  My father-in-law, a doctor, gets a kick out of that; she can’t read yet anyway.  Thank you notes are very important to my husband’s family, so I do make sure they get done.  My oldest is horrible at it.  My second whips them out like there’s no tomorrow and my third is happy to have me dictate them.  I write thank yous for the little ones and include them in mine.  This year, I took a picture of the kids in front of the Christmas Tree on Christmas Eve and had a photo card “thank you” made.  I would love to have that be it, but I know it will not be enough for my in-laws.  So, I will have the kids include thank you notes in with the picture card, I guess.