Oooooh, the moans of the Monday after the Thanksgiving holiday! Your bellies and hearts are full, time with your families was well spent, and you were more than NOT ready to return to work, school, or the other daily and routine activities of your life today. I know the feeling! However, with much to be thankful for and with the Christmas and holiday season just around the corner, positive attitudes and cheerful hearts must abound...even on this Monday after Thanksgiving.
Last week we discussed how important it is to teach your children how to express gratitude and thankfulness, no matter what time of the year it is. This week I would like to focus on the topic of helping your children to help others, especially as the holiday season rolls around. Giving is often only expressed when the twinkling lights begin to go up on a variety of coniferous trees, when holiday music begins to emit from all radio stations, and when the weather begins to turn chilly. However, giving and teaching your children how to give and help others with a cheerful heart, is important all year round. So, the topic for this week's blog is "Helping Your Kids to Help Others this Holiday Season," but of course this concept applies beyond the realm of the holidays.
In a recent study, 94% of Americans believe that parents play a key role in getting their children involved in charity efforts, yet in the same survey, 70% of parents admitted that their children are not currently involved in any charitable activities. Parents cited family commitments, concern over how contributions will be used, and time as the most common excuses in not getting their kids involved in helping others (familyeducation.com).
Here's some interesting ways to think about giving, and teaching your kids to help others:
-Be honest and talk with your kids about those in need. Make it a reality for them, maybe drive them past the local homeless shelter or soup kitchen and explain to them why people live/eat there. Also explain to them the dangers, and remind them to never visit a location like this without an adult.
-Teach your kids that giving and gratitude go hand-in-hand. Your kids won't be able to give with a cheerful heart, without first expressing and feeling gratitude for the things that they have and have been blessed with. Remind them of this, and first teach them gratitude before teaching them giving.
-Let your kids decide how to help others and give. Make it a decision that they have to make, instead of telling them how they are going to help others.
-When giving money as a family, whether to a church , or dropping it into a "Salvation Army" worker's pail at a storefront entrance, explain to your kids how this money is used, where it is going, who it may help, and how it makes a difference. Make the giving experience real for them.
-Help your children learn how to give non-material gifts. Teach them to help out a neighbor, carry in groceries for you when you get home, lend a snack to a friend at school without a lunch, etc. These simple steps are ways of helping others, without giving anything of real material value. Simple things, like accomplishing a chore without complaining or expressing thankfulness can all be ways of helping and giving without purchasing a single item.
Remember, you can make helping fun and teach your kids that giving back to others is truly a joyful experience. There are many ways that you can make helping others and giving back experiences real and fun for your children. Here are some suggestions of things you and your kids can do together for others:
-Donate to a charitable organization
-Invite an elderly neighbor over for a family celebration or meal. Explain to your kids why this might be something that neighbor will enjoy
-Deliver a meal to a family in need
-Write colorful notes or cards for other children who are experiencing long hospital stays
-Help your kids to donate clothes and toys they have outgrown to local shelters, churches, and nonprofits
-Volunteer at a soup kitchen (may be more appropriate to do with your older children)
-Send a care package to a soldier
-Visit hospital patients and spend time talking with them
-Foster a pet from a local shelter
-Shovel snow or rake leaves for a neighbor without asking as a neat surprise
-Help pick up trash at a local park
-Join a local, community group that does community service projects
All of these are ways to help teach your kids how to help others, not just this holiday season, but all year long. Simple actions and involving your kids in those actions, while explaining the good that they do for others, can help to show your children the true meaning of helping others. Often, while teaching our children these important lessons, we as adults find that we have more joy in helping, because we are setting an example for our own children. Helping others is an important tool in helping your kids to learn gratitude and to be thankful for all they have been blessed with. Remember, helping others helps us to find joy and share that joy with our children.
Be sure to visit our Family Builders' Facebook page and follow us on Twitter @fambuildersok for ways that you and your kids can serve and help others around the metro this holiday season. Enjoy the week and enjoy your kids!
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