Unplugged LettersBe their pen pal · real mail from long ago Stories

Unplugged Letters · pen-pal kits for ages 5-7 and 8-10

Your first “like” came in the mail.

Remember finding a letter in the mail with your name on it? Give your child that time-honored magic before screens and likes find them - personalized letters from a pen pal in a bygone era, waiting in the mailbox, addressed to them. Your child becomes part of the story, and what they write shapes the replies they get back.

They are the star, and their words matter.

A story comes to life, one letter at a time. Each reply from their pen pal brings your child’s words and interests to life, from a line they wrote to a treasure they sent. Opening an envelope addressed to them and finding their words read and answered is a type of validation no social media “like” can match.

Become their pen pal through a set of letters following a journey through time.First, make the letter yours: add what is special to your child, with as much personal touch as you like, but keep the main story in place. Print it and mail it to your child in an envelope (plain, or get creative!). Once it arrives, read it together. When they write back, pick the best thing they sent, a line they wrote or a treasure they tucked in, and type it into the mention box of the next letter. This pen-pal experience takes about 10 minutes a month.

When did your child last run to the mailbox for a letter?

Start with Wren · $10 How it works

W. Hollis
14 Water Street

1926

Somewhere in the future

Kit 1 · Letters from 1926A letter from 100 years ago is on its way to your child.
  • Personalized by name
  • Print at home
  • Screen-free validation
  • Pay once, no subscription

How it works

Validation that shows their effort matters.

A pen pal from long ago, in a kit that comes together in minutes.

Like the tooth fairy or the Easter Bunny, a pen pal from yesteryear is a little magic for your child. Their pen pal reads every word, picks a favorite thing they sent, and mentions it in the next letter back. Your child becomes part of the back and forth, which tells them their effort matters and makes them excited to write again.

  1. 1

    Print Letter 1

    Your downloadable kit arrives with your child’s name already on all six letters. Keep the main storyline in place, add any personal touches you like, then print Letter 1 with its reply page. You’ve just become their pen pal and set the magic in motion.

  2. 2

    Mail the letter home

    Address the envelope to your child, add a stamp and mail it. Old-fashioned wax-seal stickers are included, with a simple guide to addressing the envelopes. Watch for the letter to arrive, and let your child be the one to find it in the mailbox.

  3. 3

    Open it together and help them reply

    Read it with them. Then your child answers their pen pal’s questions and adds something from their own time, like a drawing, photo or clipping. Address the reply to their pen pal, quietly making it care of an address where you know it will arrive, like your own. A special seal on the back allows the “magic slot” to recognize it, which is how the letter travels back in time to their pen pal. Walk it to the mailbox together, and when their reply comes back to you, tuck it away as a keepsake for later.

  4. 4

    Mention them in the next letter

    Before you print the next letter in the kit, type the best thing they sent into its mention box: a line they wrote, in their own spelling, or the drawing, photo or clipping they tucked in from their “time”. Their pen pal has no idea what the future is like, and your child gets to describe it in their own important way. That is their “like”: when their pen pal mentions it, they get the validation their letter made it magically back in time, and was read and appreciated. They become the hero and the reason another letter showed up. Print, mail, repeat.

Validation, before social media: their words and interests, brought to life by their pen pal and sent back in a sealed letter they get to open. It shows them someone read their letter, and it meant something.

The stories

Five kids. Five eras. One old brass mail slot. Your child.

Letters sent through the magical brass mail slot reach the future, and it has become one family’s best-kept secret. The family takes the slot with them whenever they move or open a new shop, and each generation wants their kids to know the magic of letters back from a distant time … from your child! Each kit is set in a different year, with six letters and real history from that year. Wren’s kit is ready now, and four more kits are on their way. Each one stands alone, and together they become one journey through time. Each kit comes in two versions, ages 5-7 and 8-10: the same story at two reading levels.

1926Wren, 9Her grandpa’s clock shop

Kit 1 - Letters from 1926

Wren, 9, lives above her grandpa’s clock shop. The year is 1926, the year of the first television and a girl swimming the English Channel. Her letters reach your child, more than 100 years later.

Your child becomes the expert on the future.

Ages 5-7 · 8-10Real 1926 news
$10Get it
1937Jimmy, 10San Francisco

Kit 2 - Letters from 1937

Jimmy is Wren’s little cousin. He helps in his family’s San Francisco bakery while the city builds the longest bridge anyone has ever seen.

Your child becomes the official taste-tester from the future.

Ages 5-7 · 8-10Golden Gate Bridge
Coming soon
1955Ruby, 9Her grandmother’s sewing shop

Kit 3 - Letters from 1955

Ruby is Jimmy’s daughter. She spends her days in her grandmother’s sewing shop, the summer a brand-new park called Disneyland opens in California.

Your child becomes her design advisor from the future.

Ages 5-7 · 8-10Disneyland opens
Coming soon
1969Danny, 10A TV repair shop

Kit 4 - Letters from 1969

Danny is Ruby’s cousin. His dad fixes televisions, and everyone is about to watch astronauts walk on the Moon.

Your child becomes mission control from the future.

Ages 5-7 · 8-10The Moon landing
Coming soon
1986Thea, 10A record shop on Main Street

Kit 5 - Letters from 1986

Thea is Ruby’s daughter. She helps in the family record shop the spring Halley’s Comet comes back, a once-in-a-lifetime visitor that passes Earth every 76 years.

Your child becomes the sky-watcher who will see it next, in 2061.

Ages 5-7 · 8-10Halley’s Comet
Coming soon

The whole series

All five kits, one family, one magic brass slot, your child.

Thirty letters across five eras. Wren’s kit is ready now, and the next four are coming soon.

  • 1926
  • 1937
  • 1955
  • 1969
  • 1986

Coming soon

The whole series, at their reading level.

Start with Wren · $10

Inside every kit

Everything you need for six letters.

The grown-up’s one-page guide
Your one‑page guideEverything the grown-up needs, on one page.
Letter 1 from Wren, addressed to your child
Six letters addressed to your childBy name, each with a mention box and an optional P.S.
A reply page with questions and lines for answers
A reply page with every letterFinish the sentence, circle, draw and sign. Each reply becomes part of the next letter.
The Things from my time page, with four frames to tape treasures into
Things from my timeA page to share a drawing, photo or clipping from their own life with a pen pal from the past.
A 1926 newspaper clipping about the televisor
Period pieces to tuck inReal news clippings from their year, and a page from the family’s past.
A blank page of Wren’s Hollis Clock Repair notepaper
An optional extra page to personalizeAdd anything you like, just keep the storyline in place.
Envelope guide and wax-seal stickers
Envelope guide and sealsHow to address both envelopes, the pen pal’s seals, plus seals that help your child’s reply find the magical brass mail slot.
The keepsake envelope cover
The keepsake envelope coverKeep all of your child’s replies in one place when they come back in the mail.

Gift it

The “pen pal” can be any grown-up in their life.

Replies go to the grown-up’s own address, so a grandparent across the country can be the one who writes back. It makes a thoughtful gift during long distances or a long time apart.

  • Grandparents
  • Aunts and uncles
  • Godparents
  • A parent who travels

Miss Wren Hollis
c/o Grandma June
12 Maple Lane

REAL
STAMP

Questions

Before you buy.

Does anything ship to me?

No. It is a PDF made out to your child. You fill in the mention box on screen, print it at home, and mail it yourself. We suggest high-quality cream paper rather than plain white printer paper, so every letter looks and feels like it came from long ago.

What do I need to fill it in?

The free Adobe Acrobat Reader or the Google Chrome browser, on a computer. Please use one of these: other apps, like Safari, Preview or phone viewers, may show plain type instead of the character’s handwriting, or hide the typing spaces altogether.

How much time does it take?

About 10 minutes per letter: read their reply, type a line or two, print and mail. We suggest starting with one letter a month.

My child is just learning to write. Will it work?

Yes. Every reply page has things to circle and draw, and a grown-up can write down what your child says.

Which age version should I choose?

Ages 5-7 has shorter letters in bigger handwriting, made to read together, and reply pages that are mostly circle and draw. Ages 8-10 has fuller letters, more history and questions they write out themselves. It is the same story either way, so siblings can follow along together.

What does my child send back?

Their reply page, and something from their own life: a drawing, a photo, a ticket or a picture from a magazine, taped to the “Things from my time” page. Each letter asks for something different, and everything they send comes back to your home mailbox. By the end you have six letters from their world, quietly kept by you as a keepsake, to give back to them in the years to come.

Are more kits coming?

Yes. Four more kits follow the same family through 1937, 1955, 1969 and 1986. Each one stands on its own, and together they make one journey through time. We suggest starting at the beginning, with Wren.

Will my child know it’s me?

That is up to you. Their replies are addressed to the character, care of you, so they come straight back to your mailbox. Keeping the secret, along with the keepsake envelope, makes for a lovely reveal years later.

Can I use it with more than one child?

Yes, within your own family. Each child gets their own copy, made out to them.

Is it a subscription?

No. You pay once and keep the PDF.

Another question?

Email us at hello@unpluggedletters.com. It comes straight to us, and we’ll help with anything from a download to a spelling of your child’s name.

Email us