On the heels of Black Friday and Cyber Monday comes #GivingTuesday, an effort to remind us to be charitable this holiday season. Giving to others is an important message for children, especially this time of year when they are bombarded with TV commercials and toy catalogs. (Though I have to admit even I have fun looking at those toy catalogs.)
Our boys each get an allowance, with a portion going to saving, spending and donating. A lot of their donations go to church, but there is still plenty in their piggy banks to do some holiday giving, especially if my husband and I match their funds. I’m not sure what they’ll decide to do: buy a toy for a toy drive, donate for a holiday meal at the food bank or something that they come up with on their own. I’ll keep you posted.
I’m still open to ideas. Do you include giving as part of your holiday routine? If so, where do your children enjoy giving?
Kirsten W. Larson 
We have done a lot with the Heifer Project over the years, and locally there are plenty of drives to choose from, but we also really liked Kiva (a non-profit organization with a mission to connect people through lending to alleviate poverty. Leveraging the internet and a worldwide network of microfinance institutions, Kiva lets individuals lend as little as $25 to help create opportunity around the world.), and have given Kiva-cards as gifts. It’s a lot of fun to scroll through all the small biz projects and learn about the people you can help directly. Let us know what you do!
Thanks for reminding me of Kiva! My sister-in-law lets my nieces pick projects. They girls are 11 and 8 and love it. And Heifer is fantastic. What kid wouldn’t love to give a goat or some chickens.
Great ideas, ladies! My husband is ever so suspicious of the big charities, so it’s great to find smaller organisations that you can trust with your money. The church, the school and the supermarket all do the same kind of thing here.
I think for kids, especially small kids, giving things instead of money can have more of an impact. That’s often easier at the local level, but sometimes you can find places where you can send boxes of needed items internationally.
This is great! It’s SO important to instill in kids the desire to share with others. It’s great to get them to think outside the box in charitable projects, as well. For kids who are heavily into music, dance, drama or art, I’d suggest something like our local Creative Kids organization, which uses donations to provide music/dance/drama/art lessons/supplies for kids in the community who couldn’t afford them otherwise. They’ve even created a catalog for this holiday season with amounts one can give to provide a month’s lessons, or some art supplies, etc. It could be a joint project for an artsy family.
Thanks for this, Beth. You also just reminded me of another site that may resonate with kids, DonorsChoose: http://www.donorschoose.org/
We give year-round. Not really part of a holiday routine. Books to libraries are generally my kids favorite thing to donate. I also donate hats I’ve made to homeless shelters and make monetary donations throughout the year to cancer societies, animal shelters, etc, but my kids aren’t too involved with those. I’m hoping to teach my daughter to knit when she’s a little older so she can make hats, too.
And, since this relates to the subject, I even try to give more than I have 🙂 Below is a quick promo for a personal charity project I’m working on. If you don’t want me to promote here, please just delete the comment, I won’t be offended. I’m just over-excited about so I’m sharing everywhere. So far, people have been generous enough to donate 56 books!
My project at http://indiegogo.com/reaching-for-rainbows makes it easy for people to donate my color-concept book Reaching for Rainbows, which features a visually-impaired child, to libraries. I’m buying books at cost, so the illustrator and I are not making any money, and I’m putting in a lot of time to package and send to libraries. Lot more details are available at the project website, so please check it out, and share with friends!
Hi Nessa! Thanks for the info. about your charity. I’m happy to keep your comment here for others to see and share. 🙂
Our family always tries to do something for a charity. Josie and I give some of our money to help other people. I agree with Ms. Zoch about Heifer International. We like helping that one because you can help people help themselves make a living. Our family also tries to volunteer to help people. Great post with a great message! 🙂 I am going to show my mom Ms. Morris’ charity!
Thanks for passing on so many good ideas, Erik!
Love your ideas, Kirsten. I’ll be very interested to see what your boys decide to do. We have done a lot with Heifer International, as a couple people mentioned above. It’s a wonderful organization with a nice scale depending on how much you have to give.
I’ll keep you posted. I am hoping to make a decision this weekend.