how do i find my ds a penpal?

[cheeryface]

i had lots as a child and ds2 has been asking for one. any idea?

[nickschick]

How old is he?

I have a 10 year old whod love an Email buddy.

[cheeryface]

Hi, he's nearly 12, he would really like to write proper letters though he says. would that be any good ? he likes football, bmx biking , xbox etc

[nickschick]

My ds is only 10 and thats a big difference to being 12 I think (although ds is into xbox and lego......what would be really interesting is an overseas penpal - perhaps someone else will be along soon?

Its fab getting real letters as opposed to cheery emails and bills through the letterbox.

[Carrotsandcelery]

Do you have any friends in other areas who could ask at their school? Or would a friend in another area have a friend with a child the right sort of age? You would have to be pretty careful who he was writing to.
I had penpals as a child and teenager and it was fantastic.
I hope you find someone.

[QBEE]

Oh, what a fab idea. I think my dd would enjoy an email buddy too.
I like the idea of a real pen pal as I had a couple when younger and used to spend ages decorating the pages with parts of the argos catalogue , writing in caligraphy and glitter glueing the edge of the paper really enjoy shooting off a quick note. I only stopped with mine at about 16 12 due to homework.

So, I have a dd (10) who I am offering up as an email buddy if anyone has a dd or ds interested.

Sorry for hijack cheery Hope you manage to get a real penpal for your son.

[Carrotsandcelery]

This is a great idea for a thread actually. QBEE my dd will be 10 in the Spring. I will ask her if she is interested. What are your dd's interests? My dd likes art, ponies, animals,reading, music, cinema. Do you think our dds would be a good match?

[Memoo]

nickschick, I have a 10yo DS who is lego mad! also loves ps3, football and Match attax trading cards

[mamadiva]

Ooh this would be a fab thread idea for penpal swaps :o

My DS is only 4 butI he would'nt mind getting into it for the sake of some post! LOL

[QBEE]

Carrots, yes please do ask her.

Dd enjoys reading (is reading third HarryP atm), ponies (helps with mucking out neighbours but not a rider), art, writing short stories, sylvanian families, cinema, cooking, french, and sciencey stuff like microscopes, chemistry sets, stargazing.

[Carrotsandcelery]

I will ask her QBEE - my dd likes sylvanian families and cooking too. She has dabbled in science stuff as well (her Dad used to be a physicist so gets really into this) They sound a good match. I will see what she says.

[mixedmamameansbusiness]

IYS - International Youth Service based in Finland.... I had many many penpals from them back when I was a child they were brilliant.

Oh dear just looked for a link and due to the internet have closed down as there was no more demand. Shame.

[GimmeIrnBru]

Aha!!! That's the one I was thinking of! IYS!! Just reminicising about the pen pals I wrote to when in secondary school in the 90s, and that's the name I remember - IYS! I had forgotten what it was called but it came back to me on this thread. I remember it cost about 50p per pen pal you selected, and there was no guarantee it would last.

I sent off for quite a few. Wrote briefly to one from Dusseldorf, Venice, Texas and a couple of others....but none of them lasted with the exception of one! I wrote to a girl from a town near Naples and that was back in August/September 1998...and we are still in touch to this day! She was even at my wedding, and we've since been over to stay with the family. Wonderful, wonderful experience and I'd love my two DC to also consider this as a past time when they reach high school age.

So sad that IYS is no longer around - am gutted :(