How To Teach Your Kids The Importance Of Giving

For me, one of the jobs as a parent is to teach your kids the importance of giving.  I think some of us have a spirit of giving that may be stronger than others.  Henry, my 11 year old has a huge heart and a generous spirit.  With his autism, these kids are often times very shy and have anxiety about giving things to others.  It has only been in the last six months or so that he has been voluntarily giving to others.  It was such a wonderful moment to see not only the joy on the child he donated a toy to, but the smile on Henry’s face as well.  It was joy that as pure and innocent as you can get.  With Caitlin, I have had to work with her a lot on this subject.  It is not to say she isn’t generous, but she hesitates often and I wanted to find some ways to help guide her.  Here are some great tips I found today on the Internet:

Teaching Your Children To Give

  • Donate Money:  If you have a child who received an allowance, it is great to ask your child to give a portion of their money to a charity of their choice.  We have a giving board and it has three pouches; giving, saving, spending.  Once a month the kids take their money and divvy each pouch.
  • Donate Time: If your family doesn’t have the money to give, a gift of time is just as important.  There are so many ways to give back to your community; it is sad yet hopeful at the choices to share your time or talents with.  A few years ago, our church closed down for one Sunday and asked the members to find a way to help someone.  My friend Jeanne, her children and Caitlin went to an assisted living home and cleaned an older resident’s home.  We ended forming a relationship with that person.
  • Donate Something Hand-Made: What a great way to spend your family time than to get out your arts and crafts supplies and make something that another person may be able to use.  When I was doing a lot of sewing, I made several tote bags and donated them.  Caitlin is all about art and jewelry, so we found an excellent way she could give back.  My Circle Of Creativity, is another great item from the makers of My Friendship Bracelet.  These sets and others are sold on QVC, Michael’s, Toys R Us and MindWare, is an awesome kit that you can make lanyards and bracelets. This kit is as affordable as it is completely enjoyable!

Making Gifts By Hand

Making Gifts By Hand

Our whole family loves making gifts by hand and when we were sent the award winning My Circle of Creativity kit, we could not wait to jump in and make some cool stuff.  The My circle Of Creativity kit ($24.99) comes packed with so many supplies and guides that I could not believe the price compared to what you get in the kit.  There are easy to follow instructions, a plastic loom that is so well made, pattern discs, bobbins, pre-cut thread and beads.  The interchangeable pattern discs allow you to make several different patterns, which was really helpful.  You can actually find even more patterns on Pinterest. The first night, Caitlin had made almost 10 lanyards and began making bracelets the next day.  We have a family we have adopted and she made one for each of the three kids as well as the mom!  This was such a wonderful way to get Caitlin involved in giving back and is eager to make many more gifts for the holidays!

One reader will win their choice of one My Circle Of Creativity Kit ($24.99), One Bracelet Maker Kit ($19.99) or My Ribbon Barrette Maker ($19.92)

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90 COMMENTS

  27. I love the friendship bracelet maker. My 8yr old would love to have this and it would help her make bracelets so much easier.

  61. My niece is 6 going on 16… I think we would have a lot of fun with “My Ribbon Barrette Maker”

  62. OMG that looks soooo fun! The girls would love that (heck so would I). I like the circle of creativity and also the friendship bracelet maker. Well yeah but I also like the ribbon barrett maker. Well and the image bracelet maker. Geeze it’s too hard to pick.

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