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Celebrate National Postage Stamp Day

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Another American holiday that’s celebrated on July 1 is National Postage Stamp Day. It commemorates the issuance of the first U.S. postage stamp, the Two-Cent Blue, on July 1, 1847. The stamp was designed by James B. Longacre and featured a portrait of Benjamin Franklin.

The Two-Cent Blue is one of the most famous postage stamps, but it wasn’t the first. The first adhesive postage stamp, the Penny Black, was issued in the United Kingdom on May 1, 1840. The Penny Black was designed by Rowland Hill, a British schoolmaster who is credited with inventing the postage stamp. Hill’s idea was to create a system where mailers would prepay postage, rather than having the recipient pay for it upon delivery. This system made mail more affordable and efficient, and it quickly caught on around the world.

In the early days, postage stamps were made of paper and were not perforated. This made them difficult to use, as they had to be cut by hand. In 1854, the first perforated stamps were issued in Switzerland. Perforation made it much easier to use stamps, and it quickly became the standard.

If you want to celebrate National Postage Stamp Day (whether you live in the United States or not) you can:

  • visit your local post office, looks at and buy some stamps
  • write a letter or card and mail it
  • design your own stamp with a blank stamp coloring page (like this one from Eduprints)
  • color in stamp coloring pages — Mr. Nussbaum has a collection of the 50 states stamp coloring pages, which are just so cute!
  • start a postage stamp collection or check out the collection of the US Postal Museum
  • learn some stamp facts — for example, did you know the most expensive postage stamp ever sold was a British Guiana 1c Magenta, which sold for $9.5 million in 2014?
  • do some pretend play post office play — little kids love putting “stamps” on envelopes and writing “letters”

[Photo via Kenmore Stamp]

Have you read?

Crafts to Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month

Hispanic Heritage Month runs from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15 each year (because it celebrates the time period when several countries gained their independence) and it’s a great time to bring in some Hispanic inspired crafts and foods. For an overview on the celebration, the difference between Hispanic and Latino and the importance of the holiday, as well as a look at Latino art and famous Latinos and Latinas, check out this post and related information from the National Museum of the American Latino.

Spanish Playground has a great collection of craft ideas that you can do in Spanish class or with kids in any class or at home. It includes things like weaving, making mola (folk art from Panama; learn more at Kid World Citizen), doing an artist study of a Hispanic artist and more.  

Crafty Chica has a great collection of crafts, coloring pages and printables for celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month with kids. I love this coloring page inspired by Amante bark painting, but there are also folk art stamps, corn husk dolls, tile painting ideas and more. 

Papel picado is a classic folk art from Mexico that will feel familiar if you’ve ever made a paper snowflake. Learn how to make them from tissue paper with this video from Hispanic Society Museum and Library. 

Learn more about Hispanic Heritage Month, get recipes and crafts from PBS Kids. I love this Peruvian siku flute, which can be made with old markers or paper straws.

While not exactly a craft, playing loteria (a Spanish language bingo game) is a fun thing to do with a group of kids. Free Kids Crafts has printable bingo cards with basic Spanish vocabulary and images for people who don’t already know these words. 

And if you need a little snack when you’re done crafting, try these no bake mini tres leches cakes from Inspired by Family. They’re made with purchased pound cake so they’re pretty fast and easy. 

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