Hey Kids, Send Us A Postcard!

By LA Johnson

Published November 14, 2020 at 7:00 AM EST

Milo Greer from Brooklyn, N.Y., drew himself and his friend because he "misses him so much."

Milo Greer's postcard had us emoji-face crying, too.

"Dear NPR, Here's how my life has changed because of the coronavirus ..."

Yup, it's time for another round of show and tell! In June, we asked students to send us a postcard, using their art and drawing skills to tell us what their lives looked like amid the shutdown and quarantine.

Children from all over the country responded — with drawings and dispatches from the home-school, online-class, mask-wearing, missing-my-friends world they were living through all spring.

Now, we're well into the new school year, and with learning right now a mixed-bag of in-person and online, we want to hear from your kids again.

Parents, here's what to do: Give your child a blank postcard, or basically just a 3 x 5 card, and have them paint, draw, sketch or color it to show us what life is like right now. Some possible prompts:

Online school. Or how piano/soccer/ballet, etc. lessons have changed

What being in school is like right now

Trying to stay in touch with friends and classmates

What they miss most about life and school before the pandemic

Wearing masks, and what that's all about

A project they're working on to stay active and have fun

New hobbies or skills they have picked up

Their teachers and how learning is happening

Anything else about life in this new situation

And, then, on the back, have them write us a little postcard note (or, if they're too little, adults can help): "Dear NPR ..." that explains their picture, and then send it in to us. Not with a stamp — Hey, it's 2020, right!

Take a photo of the front and the back of your child's postcard and — as their parent or guardian — email to us at npred@npr.org and put "postcard" in the subject line. (Teachers, you can help too — ask your students and their parents to participate.)

Include your child's first name and the town or city and state where you live. We'll pick out some of our favorites and post them up on NPR.org.

So keep the postcards coming, continue reading to browse through our favorite postcards from last spring, and stay safe out there!

Alissa, a 6-year-old from Brooklyn, drew a picture of her and her grandmother socially distancing.

"The picture is her visiting her grandma under the new social distancing guidelines. Alissa plays in the yard and her grandma watches from the house," says Jonathan Alwais.

(Please note: By sending in your child's postcard, you grant NPR a nonexclusive, perpetual, irrevocable, universal license to use, publish or display the postcard on npr.org or on NPR's social media channels)