The following is a guest post from momAgendaCOMM blogger Jodi Grundig.
My kids are extraordinarily lucky. They have tons of relatives that love them and over the holidays, they get more gifts than they could ever really play with or enjoy. I do try to reign things in somewhat, but I also try to teach them about giving – an important lesson during the holidays.
Here are just a few ways we try to teach our kids about giving. These things can work with both younger kids and older kids – you’ll just need to explain things a bit more to the little ones. They are also great traditions that you can start this year and continue each holiday season.
1. Visit the Food Bank: Put together a donation of essential food items and bring your kids to the food bank to donate them. If you can visit during a quiet time, they may even be able to give your children a tour. This will teach the children the true spirit of ‘giving’ especially to those in need.
2. “Adopt” a Family: Each year, my husband’s department at work adopts a family and we purchase a gift for one of the children. For years now, my kids are the ones who choose the gift – it really helps them appreciate what they have, especially when they realize that some kids only get one gift.
3. Donate Some of Their Holiday Money: While we generally put most of the kids’ holiday money in their college savings fund, we also have them donate a small amount of it. It’s a great way to teach them a little bit about giving back. You can research charities or organizations they would like to donate their money to making them a big part of the process.
4. Have the Children Choose Some Family Gifts: I let my kids pick out gifts for some of our family members, so they can understand the fun of giving gifts as well as receiving them. They look forward to helping decide on the kind of gifts they think family members would enjoy.
How do you teach your kids about giving during the holiday season?
Jodi is a mom of two with an MBA in finance and over ten years of corporate finance experience. She has been blogging since 2007 and she founded the mom review blog Mom’s Favorite Stuff.