Facebook and Twitter make it easy to collect friends, but building real friendships takes time — and possibly stamps.

Tell technology to post it by joining the Pen Pal Collective, a new snail mail initiative from Aussie-based blog The Little Folk.

Sign up and The Little Folk team sends your child (ages 5 to 13) a welcome kit with paper, envelopes, pencil, stamps, and, most importantly, the mailing addresses of his/her pen pals. Since the blog is based Down Under, your kiddo’s correspondent is likely to live half a world away, a fact that’s not lost on founder Emily Vawser. She loves the idea of matching writers from opposite hemispheres, so while one shares stories of a snowstorm, the other has tales about a day at the beach.

We think it’s a great way to practice penmanship and learn to use words — not emoticons — for self-expression.

Find out more at thelittlefolk.com.au. Registration is $10.

Photo: Remi Lai / Courtesy of The Little Folk