Giving Back This Holiday Season – 5 Ways To Involve Your Kids!

During the holidays my family takes a lot of time to think about the things that make us most thankful for what we do or do not have within our lives.

Since my kids were a young age we did a lot to try to teach them that it was important to give back to others. We try to teach them that with everything that we have many others that do not. We have connected with our local food bank to do quite a bit over the years. Collecting food and toys, and in the end hopefully teaching our kids that there is so much joy in giving as much as receiving.

So today I am asking, how do you give back to others during the holidays?

Below are 5 ways that you might want to try to give back this holiday season:

1. Find a local organization that is connected to your community that you can volunteer with. This local connection will allow your kids to feel connected to the activities as well as to the mission of the organization in general and know that what they are doing is impacting people close to where they live.
2. Make Christmas cards that your kids could take it to a local seniors home and give the cards to seniors that may not have family locally or may be feeling lonely during the holiday season.
3. Pay it forward. Do something special for someone that you do not know. This could be anything from paying for someone’s coffee that is behind you, leaving a book in a cafe, to leaving a note of thanks to someone that you do not even know.
4. Think big. Show your kids that they too can think large and do things that they never thought that they could before. This could be anything from organizing a toy drive to a fundraising event. Showing your kids that you believe in them will encourage to strive for bigger goals when giving back.
5. Know the people around you. There are many people that struggle during the holiday season – whether this is emotionally, spiritually, financially or in some other way. By understanding what people are dealing with and struggling with you can support them and you can teach your kids to do the same.

These are only some ideas of ways in which you can give back this holiday season. You are only held back by the bounds of your own creativity. The important thing is that you do give back and that you find ways to teach your kids about the importance of giving and how it will make such an impact on their lives as much as the excitement of receiving the does.