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Writing Letters and Emails: Plan with Pip the Post Pigeon

Writing Letters and Emails: Plan with Pip the Post Pigeon

Learn the skills behind writing letters and emails: spot the reader and reason, name each part, then discuss and record ideas to plan your own.

  • Ages 7–9
  • About 35 min
  • Easy start
  • Writing
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What you'll learn

  • How to spot a letter's reader and its reason for writing
  • Where the address, date, greeting and sign-off go in a letter
  • What the To box and subject line do in an email
  • When to use friendly words and when to use polite ones
  • How joining words like because, so and when link ideas
  • How to record ideas as short notes and box them up

Chapter by chapter

  1. Readers and reasons: who a letter or email is for, and why Free to try

    Years 3–4 english · 1

  2. Parts of a letter: address, date, greeting and sign-off

    Years 3–4 english · 1

  3. Parts of an email: To, subject line, greeting and sign-off

    Years 3–4 english · 1

  4. Words and grammar: friendly or polite words, and joining words

    Years 3–4 english · 1

  5. Planning: discussing and recording ideas

    Years 3–4 english · 2

  6. Your turn: plan your own letter or email from an example

    Years 3–4 english · 1 Years 3–4 english · 2

  7. Post Office Challenge (10 questions)

What the chapters cover in the national curriculum in England:

  1. Years 3–4 english: Plan their writing by: discussing writing similar to that which they are planning to write in order to understand and learn from its structure, vocabulary and grammar
  2. Years 3–4 english: Plan their writing by: discussing and recording ideas

About this adventure

Writing Letters and Emails is an interactive game for children aged 7–9 that teaches how to plan a letter or email by studying good examples and recording ideas. It follows the Year 3 and 4 English curriculum for planning writing.

With Pip the post pigeon, players open a mailbag and work out each message's reader (who it is for) and reason (why it was written). They tap the parts of real-looking letters and emails, such as the address, date, greeting, subject line and sign-off, and build a letter piece by piece. They pick out friendly or polite words and joining words (conjunctions) like because and so.

Then they plan: recording a discussion as sticky notes, binning off-topic ideas and boxing up the rest into a beginning, middle and end. Narration reads every instruction aloud.

Questions and answers

What are the parts of a letter for kids?

A letter has the writer's address and the date at the top right, then a greeting such as Dear Gran. After the message, which has a beginning, middle and end, comes a sign-off like Love from and the writer's name.

How is an email different from a letter?

An email has a To box for the reader's email address and a short subject line saying what it is about, but no stamp or written address. Both letters and emails still need a greeting, a clear message and a sign-off.

How do children plan a letter before writing it?

Children plan a letter by deciding who the reader is and why they are writing, then talking through ideas and jotting them as short notes. They keep only ideas that fit the reason and sort them into a beginning, middle and end.

What age is this letter writing game for?

The game is designed for children aged 7 to 9, in Years 3 and 4. It matches the English national curriculum aims for planning writing by discussing similar examples and recording ideas, and it reads every instruction aloud for younger readers.

What does the Writing Letters and Emails game include?

It includes six chapters with animated introductions, tap and drag activities, a capital letters refresher and a 10-question Post Office Challenge. Playing everything takes about 35 minutes, and children can start from any chapter in the menu.

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