Donating: Not Just A Holiday Theme

The importance of donating is a much-needed lesson to teach your children. Many organizations do incredible work for their communities based off the giving of others and take little to no profit for themselves. There are many reasons to teach your children about the importance of giving, especially once the holidays are over. Here are a few to get you started:

Donations Are Always Needed

The holidays are the most popular times for donations, as shoppers see Red Cross volunteers ringing bells and are told that donations are tax deductible for the upcoming tax season. The truth is, after the holidays are over, many organizations are still in need of toys and other donations - perhaps even more so.

Declutter Your Child’s Space

To most children, the glamor of new toys begins to wear off after some time. Have your children think about older toys (perhaps from last year’s holiday gifts) that they no longer play with, gather them together, and have them pick out toys they are willing to donate. This helps declutter your child’s room and gives your family a jump start on spring cleaning

Teach Your Children the Value of Giving

Giving to those less fortunate should be a year-round theme, not just during the holidays. Teach your children about the importance of giving and appreciation of what they have by donating some of their unused toys. This lesson can be taught much easily shortly after they have just been given new toys to play with. Let them know that there are some children that are not so fortunate to receive new toys, clothes, and other things they may take for granted.

Understanding that they are fortunate to have what they have will give your child a greater appreciation for the people and things in their life. Help your kids build character and help their community at the same time by donating some of their toys to worthy causes. Perhaps you have a local favorite organization that is near to your heart - if not, check out some of the top-rated charities in America at charitywatch.org.  

Teach Your Kids the Gift of Giving

Children Learn the Gift of Giving with Lil' Shopper's Shoppe

This holiday season, like any holiday season, there will be a lot of shopping. While gift-giving is a key element in the holiday season, how can you get your children to learn a valuable lesson without becoming addicted to their shiny new toys? Teaching your kids about giving is very important. Now is the time for them to learn about spreading warmth and helping others. Lessons you can teach your children this holiday season include:

Thoughtfulness for Others
Witnessing the gratitude of others is a great way to help a child’s thoughtfulness grow and it’s a feeling they will want to repeat. Personalizing a gift is a great way to add a little extra touch and to give a child pride. Whether it is something as simple as wrapping the gift in the child’s artwork,or adding a personal message, small touches go a long way. Make sure to ask for your child’s input. Ask what they think would be best suited for siblings, grandma, grandpa, cousins, etc., and be sure to let the child “present” the present. Feeling included in the gift-giving process is essential to making the child understand thoughtfulness.

The Value of Money
A fun and fantastic way to teach children the value of money is to involve them in the gift buying process. If planning a surprise gift for a child, it may be difficult to include them. However, you can easily incorporate their own wish list into a lesson about value and money. You can teach children about shopping around for the best price and how to get more bang for your buck. This will not only make more thrifty shoppers, but also teach your child about worth and value.

Gratitude and Values
Of course kids love receiving presents at the holidays but what truly makes the season special is the goodwill around them. Perhaps most important of all, a child learns gratitude when receiving gifts. When you involve a child in the buying and giving process, it helps them to better understand the effort behind receiving a gift from others. Incorporating your child in gift giving helps them to appreciate what they receive and be thankful. Children learn to express thanks for big and small gifts, not just the ones at the top of their list that year.