U.S. #5639
2021 58¢ Message Monsters – Red-headed Monster
Issue Date: September 24, 2021
First Day City: Topeka, KS
Type of Stamp: Commemorative
Printed by: Banknote Corporation of America
Printing Method: Offset
Format: Pane of 20
Self-Adhesive
Quantity Printed: 18,000,000
In recent years, the US Postal Service has been working on more ways to get children involved with the mail and stamps. In 2021, this meant the release of four Message Monsters stamps. They're the perfect way to encourage more children to send letters or even collect stamps.
Parents can help kids write letters at home, but one of the most fun things is when teachers set up a pen pal system at school. Each child is assigned a pen pal to write to every so often, giving students a chance to work on their reading and writing skills, as well as interpersonal communication. Sometimes, pen pals are anonymous and assigned within the school itself, while other times, pen pals are assigned from other schools, or even other states. There are even occasions when an antire class works together to write letters to folks in the community. This could be local celebrities, business owners, or sometimes people in nursing homes. There are even websites that allow people to get in touch from around the world. Sure, social media does that too, but what's more special than doing it by good old-fashioned mail?
Writing to a pen pal is fun and rewwarding for both participants. It gives each side soemthing to look forward to when the mail comes every day.