One tradition I have with the kids is for them to help write/make their own thank you notes, particularly after birthdays, but also for random acts of kindness they've receive throughout the year. It began when Norah was too young to "write" thank you notes, so I let her paint/color pictures and I wrote her words, verbatim as she dictated them. This year, she was able to make (and write) them all by herself from start to finish.
For the writing of the notes, I started her off with a template. It basically said, "Dear _______________, Thank you for (several blank lines). Love, ____________." Then, I read off to Norah the list of people we needed to thank. I let her tell me what she wanted to say to each person, and I helped her with the spelling of words, as needed. This process took several days. Her list of people was fairly long, and her patience with printing could only last so long...so we broke it up into daily sessions while Eli napped one week.
She made the cards by using a spinning art kit (which just happened to be one of the gifts for which she was writing a thank you note). Simply fasten down a note card to the tray, spin, squirt on paint, and watch it fly. Norah loved experimenting with different techniques. After the paintings were dry, she glued them onto a half piece of cardstock, folded tent-style. Then, just for kicks, she titled (and signed) each work of art, based on what she thought it resembled. 
I addressed the envelopes, while she return address stamped, and put postage in the appropriate corners.
And voila! Personalized, heart-felt thank you notes! Thank you note writing is a somewhat less practiced social grace in today's e-culture, but I hope it never will be for my kids. t's a great way to help them realize and be thankful for their many blessings, as well as to be a blessing to others. (After all, who doesn't like to get a little bit of fun mail from time to time?)
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