Teaching Kids the Friendly Letter Format (Free Template)

Are your children learning how to write letters? Learning the friendly letter format is great way to introduce your children to the lost art of letter writing.

A friendly letter is usually the first letter your children will ever write. We’ve included a free friendly letter template located at the bottom of the post for you to help teach this to your kids.

Friendly Letter Format

There are many different types of letters your children can learn how to write. The friendly letter format is the most common letter your children will write. Friendly letters are informal letters that are more personal in nature. When a child is learning how to write letters, this is the first place to start.

These personal letters can be a sweet letter that is written to a best friend, a pen pal or family members.

Parts of a Friendly Letter

A friendly letter does not follow the strict rules a business letter does, though there are a few basic parts that a friendly letter contains.

Heading

The heading is the first part of the letter that you see. This is usually the date. Dating letters is very important for communication. They also make great keepsakes and memories because you know when they were written.

Greeting

A greeting almost always starts with Dear and the name of the person you are addressing. There is always a comma after the name. For example: Dear Jane,

Body

The body of the letter is the main portion of the letter where you write your thoughts in. The body of your letter can contain one long paragraph or multiple paragraphs.

Closing

The closing of the letter is usually a simple way to end your letter. You can end it with talk to you soon, with love, best regards, until next time, etc…

Signature

The signature is usually followed after the closing line at the end of the letter. Make sure to leave a few spaces if you want to write your signature in cursive, or add doodles to the end of it.

Free Friendly Letter Template PDF Download Be sure to scroll to the bottom to get access to our friendly letter template. Included is a cheat sheet to teach that helps kids remember the friendly letter format, as well as some printable pages that kids can use to write a friendly letter.

Steps in Writing a Friendly Letter

There are six steps to following when you are writing a friendly letter.

Step One – Write Your Address at the Top

It is important to write your address at the top of the page. Sometimes people get excited to open a letter and they will tear the envelope or throw it out. If this happens you may not know an address to reply back to.

Write your address at the top of the page. You can write it at the left or right of the page. There aren’t really any general rules to this as it is your preference.

Step Two – Add the Date

Dating your letters is an important step not to miss. Having a date on a letter is great for referencing back at a later time. Handwritten letters are special and can make great keepsakes and memories for history.

Step Three – Add a Salutation or Greeting

Adding a greeting is a great way to begin your letter in a personal and sweet way. Usually letters start with Dear and the name of who you are writing. You can personalize these with a nickname that you have for the person you are writing to.

Step Four – Write Your Letter

Next, you begin writing your letter. The body of the letter is where you will share all of your thoughts and ideas with the letter recipient. If your student already knows how to write a paragraph, this part should be easy. You may want to tell them about your day, week or month, keeping them up to date on what is going on in your life.

If you are writing a pen pal or long distance family member, you may want to include questions for them to respond to in their letter back to you.

Step Five – Add a Closing

Don’t forget to end your letter with a closing. This can be a simple sentence such as: Until next time, with love, or you can end it with a question or a challenge for them to write you back.

Step Six – Add Your Signature

The last way to personalize your letter is by adding your signature. If your letter is not handwritten you will want to hit the space bar 4 times. This will give you plenty of room to add your signature at the end of the letter.

Tips on Writing a Friendly Letter

Don’t forget to add all the steps when you are writing your friendly letter. These steps will help your letter to have a nice format to it.

Most of all, have fun with writing your letter. A friendly letter is supposed to be friendly. You can even include drawings, doodles, or special stickers to the recipient.

Different Types of Friendly Letters

There are a few different types of friendly letters that you can write for different events or things that happen in life. It is important to teach your children to write these types of letters as they help people to feel loved and appreciated.

Letter of Congratulations

A letter of congratulations would be a letter that you would write someone when you want to congratulate them. These can be written to someone that has had a baby, someone that has graduated, or received an award or accomplished something exciting.

Letter of Condolence

A letter of condolence is a type of letter that you would write to someone that has suffered a loss. This could be the loss of a pet, a loved one, a job or anything that has made them sad. Usually these letters have a heartfelt note, a scripture or word of encouragement.

Thank you Letter

A thank you letter is normally written in a small thank you card or even a note card. This is where you would thank someone for a gift, a meal or anything that they have helped you with that you would like to express your thanks for.

Thinking of You Letter

A thinking of you letter is just that! It let’s a the recipient know that you are thinking of them. This could be a simple note with a scripture or quote. You can include stickers or even a drawing or a photograph.

Friendly Letter FAQs

What is the format of a friendly letter?

To format a friendly letter you will need to include the date and address at the top of the page. Then you add the greeting, the body, the closing and a signature.

What are the 5 parts of a friendly letter?

The 5 parts of a letter are:

• Heading
• Greeting
• Body
• Closing
• Signature

How do you write a simple friendly letter?

A simple friendly letter would have the address and date on the top of the page. Then you would begin your greeting, have a body to your letter, the closing and signature line. An example of a letter to a relative would be:

Dear Grandma,

I have missed you so much. I hope you are doing well. It is finally cooling off here in sunny Florida. We are hoping to get some nice winter weather here. How is the weather in Colorado? Has it started snowing yet? I can’t wait to visit you so we can see the snow together.
Hope to hear from you soon,

With Love,

Sarah

How do you end a friendly letter?

Close your letter with a sentence such as: I hope to hear from you soon, can’t wait until we meet again, etc… Then you sign your name in your best handwriting.

Friendly Letter Template PDF

If you find that using free graphic organizers templates are helpful, this Friendly Letter Template is good to add to your homeschool toolbox. Included are blank pages that have sections for students to use to write their heading, greeting, body, closing, and signature.

We also included a cheat sheet that works as a guide to help students remember how to format their friendly letter.

Click the Instant Download at the bottom of the post to download the free Friendly Letter Template.

In Conclusion

Teaching students how to write well is an important part of their education. Beginning writers that are ready to learn how to format a friendly letter can work up to book reports and other writing assignments.

Eventually, they will learn how to write a 5 paragraph essay. If you need help figuring out how to grade writing assignments, you can use our free rubrics for writing assignments.