Post Office “I Spy” for Preschoolers


Post Office "I Spy" for preschoolers

We are currently working our way through our first official unit for our “school” about helpers.  Our first designated helpers are mailmen.  The girls and I have been having fun discovering more about the mail and mailmen.  But, I kind of hit a wall in regards to their understanding of what happens at a post office.  They just didn’t have much experience with going to the post office.  So, I threw together a quick post office “I spy” activity for the girls and it was such FUN!   And I thought I would share with you a free printable so you can do it, too.

I wanted to keep the list of things to look for to a minimum and had to reduce them to things one could “see” without a tour of the post office.  We were planning on going to mail some items at the post office and I wanted to inquire if they had tours for little ones, but I wasn’t sure if they did.  Thus, I included in our “I Spy” items that are readily visible to anyone visiting the post office.  Also, since G is a budding reader, I made sure the words were simple enough for her to read by herself.

I created the “I Spy” list quickly using clip art and PicMonkey (a favorite tool) and was so happy when the idea struck to use old sticker stamps as the check boxes.  As you can see on the printable, the boxes say, “Place Stamp Here.”  I knew we had some old stamps in a drawer that would work perfectly for this.  And the girls LOVED getting to put a sticker on the box as they found each item on the list. This was also a great way to introduce the idea of stamps to the girls.

Post Office "I Spy" for preschoolers

 

I gave the girls some simple instructions before we set out to go to the post office and the girls spent most of the drive over scoping out everything, looking for the items on our Post Office “I Spy” list.

In fact, W was the first to notice the American flag on our way to the post office.  She also spotted one hanging from the ceiling inside the post office.  And the girls both call it, the “Camercia flag,” which cracks me up.  I worked with them on the pronunciation, to no avail.  Oh, well!

The next thing we spotted outside the post office was three mail trucks!  G was the one to see them and she shouted out, “I spy 3 mail trucks!”  Post Office "I Spy" for preschoolers

 

And on our way to the door, W spotted the mail drop boxes and pointed them out!  We were halfway finished with our activity before we even crossed the threshold!

We had to practice patience by waiting in line inside the post office.  The girls took the opportunity to look high and low for the next items on our Post Office “I Spy” list.  By the time we were done with our transaction at the counter, the girls had spotted a shipping box and the USPS logo.

Post Office "I Spy" for preschoolers

We had just one more item to find on our list.  So we took a stroll through the rest of the post office and found the post office boxes – a fascinating sight for the girls.  They very much wanted to have a key to open the boxes, but we don’t have one.  Oh, well.  We finished our “I Spy” activity and celebrated by picking up lunch on the way home!

Are you interested in conducting your own Post Office “I Spy” activity?   Here is a FREE printable for you!

 

post office "I Spy" for preschoolers


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