Thank You Cards - Los Angeles,CA

The best thank-you we ever received was a group photo from the party with "Thank You" printed on the photo. I am usually not a fan of "Thank You" cards simply because they are wasteful. I would prefer a verbal thank you to my face, but the photo was a nice keepsake.

You write them.
ETA: @Gamma - we have received thank you notes from every single party my son has attended since he was 4 years old.

When the kids in our family were little, we wrote the notes to the other kids, or kids and parents (depending on who really gave the gift), because we felt it was important for kids to get the sense of receiving a thank you and then get in the habit of sending them themselves. We wrote them when they were very little, and wrote in our children's "voices" as if they really spoke, but by 3 we would just write down what they said about the gift (if it was a toy) or whether they thought it was "cool" (if it was clothing). If it was a gift card, then we just wrote that we would go there and pick something out. And we'd fill in the rest of the note around the child's own comments. After the kids can write a little, we sometimes did a 'fill in the blank' thank you note so at least the kids participated. If your daughter draws a circle or a squiggle on the notes, I think that's charming! Maybe she can put the stamp on too, or put a sticker on the flap after you seal it - anything is a good exercise in manners.

You aren't getting thank you notes sometimes because people don't know enough to send them - same as they don't RSVP! Pet peeve! So by all means, take the time to show your appreciation and help spread the idea of gratitude! People who don't feel appreciated don't keep coming to parties and don't give gifts. We cut people off after a certain amount of time if we never hear from them.

I just saw on line with my bank that a kid we've known since kindergarten deposited the check we gave him for high school graduation 4 weeks ago, but we don't have a thank you yet. I'm annoyed as hell. My son wasn't allowed to deposit the check or use the gift or gift card until the thank you was written.

At your daughter's age, you would write them and send them to the parents and mention their child's name. If your little girl wants to add a scribble, go for it!

Thank You for starting your daughter on a path of gratitude and manners. A nice written snail mail note is so much more meaningful than something like a "Tnx, she <3s it!!!" text.

I always wrote thank you notes for any gift my daughter received when she was younger. As she got older, she was more involved in the process.

To this day, a thank you note is a habit and is done within 24 hours of receipt if a gift, handwritten and mailed.... No excuses.

A proper thank you is proper manners that has unfortunately been forgotten because many people in today's society are all so selfish and about me me me. Very much like people who disregard a RSVP.

Yes, write the thank you for your daughte and let her "sign" them! It's a good practice for years to come,

I hope the party was a success!

Unfortunately I suck at formal Thank You's. My kids rarely receive them, which doesn't excuse my inability to make it happen, but I don't see them as often anymore.

I did like when we got a group picture with a thank you...it was a simple way to say thanks.

You can write them. For one party we attended this year, the birthday girl (3) had typed notes and she added Xoxo and a smiley face. I thought that was sweet. I'm usually not a fan of generic typed notes, but with the additions by a very young kiddo, I think it is fine.

Yes, you should send thank you cards. You should write them, but if you want to ask your daughter to say what she liked about the gift, that would be a cute thing to add. She doesn't have to write/draw anything.

I usually address the cards to the children because I think kids really like getting mail.

When your daughter can write her name (either age 4 or 5), she can write her own name on the note. By age 6 she can probably write the whole thing herself, with spelling help of course.

I realize many people don't send thank yous anymore but we always did and I would think ESPECIALLY to families who gave up precious time off on the weekend to attend a three year old's birthday party (ugh) a party which she and none of her guests will ever even remember.
Obviously YOU write them, something short and sweet like "Sally was so happy you came to her party, and thanks for the awesome gift!"
Do it by email if you don't want to waste the paper & postage, a personal message is always nice whether it's received on paper or electronically.
Easy-peasy and it starts you and your daughter on the good habit of being grateful when other people show up for you.

Thank you cards are not negotiable - it's always proper to do them.
(I know some people don't but it always grates my teeth when that happens.)
You write them for your child until they can write the cards themselves and you address them to the guest child who brought a gift.

One of the reasons we always opened presents after the party was over was that it's MUCH easier to track what came from who.
You take notes on a pad as they are opened - and you use your notes as you write thank you cards to thank each child for their wonderful gift of <what ever it was> and you're (well, your child is) enjoying it SO MUCH!

People like to be acknowledged.
It lets them know you got the gift (especially in the event a gift was mailed (this is more like for a wedding but the concept applies to all gifts)) and they like to know their gift brought you joy.

For big class birthday parties, we've never had a thank you note given to us. The most we ever had was a mom sending me an email thanking me the following day. And that's a whack of parties. So here .. not so much.

We always make our kids say goodbye and thank you to each child and family when they leave the party. And I thank the parents in person at that time. That's kind of how it goes here.

My kids always sent (and still do) personalized thank you's (even if just a drawing) to family and friends who sent gifts.

But big class parties - we did at the time, in person.

One thing I really liked was getting a picture of whole group with "Thank you" on the back. I think another mom mentioned that. Then it's a keepsake of the class/group of friends for everyone.

You don't have to, but it might be fun to do with your daughter.

If your daughter does it, address it to the kids. If you do it, address it to both parent and kids.

Circles and lines from your daughter would be adorable, with a "Thank you for coming to my party," translation from you. You don't have to take the whole 'thank you card' thing too seriously.

Anytime and at any age, we did thank you cards and still do.. When my son was younger and couldn't write many words, we bought these white blank cards that folder and along with them, we bought stickers from Michael's. In doing as such, I would have my son apply whatever stickers he thought the person for whom we were sending the card might like... My son might write thank you and then I would add something else to the cards.. OR not because when he was really young, most knew he couldn't write, but appreciated the cards with the stickers.. I think some type of of thank you gesture is always a good idea.. It teaches a child gratitude..
nowadays, not enough people send a thank you... In my opinion, an email or text isn't the same thing and too I always tell my son, if a person can take the time to make or give your something, then surely you can take the time to thank them..
go with the circles and or lines :) add a sticker or two.... even fingerpaints will do.. but I would definitely do something :)

I live in a part of the country (the South) where written thank-yous are still common and expected--at least once a semester, I get a thank you note from students for participating in an interview with them or for having taught them in several courses! I think of it as just doing my job, however they have been trained to send a note. It has been a cultural re-education for me as a Yankee-transplant. Therefore, it has been important for me to insist that my kids write a note or make a call as a thank you. I have only been somewhat successful because it was pulling teeth to get my son to finish the last batch of thank-you cards for the presents from his bar mitzvah (event in end of Feb, last note written mid-June).

While I am not good at doing the formal thank yous myself, I do see them as really important--for me, the thank you is expressing appreciation for a GIFT or a generous ACTION (not just for attending a party--that happens face to face, when the person comes to say goodbye and thanks). You can consider this the first step in training your daughter to value the generosity of others and acknowledging it.

I would suggest keeping it very low-labor at this point--make up a template on the computer (I liked the idea mentioned below of a photo of all the kids or yours from the party), print and write in the guest's name, maybe the gift s/he gave, and have your daughter draw a smiley face. The parents will appreciate it and it won't stress you out.

No, I have been to hundreds of birthday parties over the years and not one child has ever sent a thank you card. They are not sent anymore. That was very old fashioned when I was a kid and young adult.

One thing we always did do cards for was graduation and wedding gifts. Other than that no one sends them anymore.

Maybe somebody already suggested this (I didn't read all of the responses as the MP site is being weird again and jumping all over the place), but what we have done is take a picture of the birthday kiddo holding the gift they received and having them write (or draw) something on the back. I have also done a pic of the birthday kiddo with the gift giver and sent that as well (if one was taken at the party). It is never too early to start kids getting into the habit of sending thank you cards!

Good luck!

When my kids were that age, I wrote the cards and had them write either their name or a letter, or whatever they could manage. The main message to them was that the "thank you" notes were a regular part of getting gifts and that not sending them out was not an option. When they ask for big parties, I always remind them about all of the thank you note they will have to write. Now that they are a little older, they have personalized stationery they use for their notes, which they write on their own. I will still address the envelopes so the mail machines don't kick the envelopes back to us if they can't read the kids' writing.

I am really surprised at how many people who claim they work to instill manners in their kids don't have them send out thank yous. I find it really aggravating to go to the time and expense of sending my kids to a party and not get a thank you note back.

I bought blank cards and let my son decorate them however he liked, I would put in a simple "thank you for X" and put his name on it. We never did big birthday parties at 3 or so, usually thank-yous were for presents sent from family.

I like the idea of the photo of the party and a thank you written on the back as well.

I have a MIL who lives for thank you notes and it takes so little to do this for her.... before eschewing them as a whole, consider the generation of the giver.

Unless your 3 year old can write them--yes you write them.
A photo card/postcard of the party of your child or the group with "thanks for coming and sharing my day!" will suffice.

My daughter took a cute photo of my grandson. Had it copied onto sheets of paper at office max. On the bottom of the paper she typed thanks for coming and Ayden's name. She let him scribble some words. Everyone loved them.

I think that's nice that you want to send out thank you cards (a dying tradition that should be revived).

I would write them out myself, keep it short "thank you for the remote control car), sign your son's name then have him draw a little something next to his name w/a crayon. It's ok if it's just a line or a smear. Will be cute.

If you keep the cards, simple they'll be done fast.

We always did thank you's at a young age by setting aside some time and taking a photo of our kids playing with or holding the special gift that they received from their friend. We would then write a little note on the back of the photo saying something like...."Beth loves her new Barbie so much and she carries it with her everywhere she goes. Thank you for coming to the party and for bringing her such a wonderful gift. She loves it!" Then, mail out the photos or have them put with the kids belongings sent home at the end of day from preschool or daycare if most of the kids were invited from there. Heck of a lot better than a card. People don't tend to throw out photos of their child's friend playing with a toy that they gave them!