Via: defendernetwork.com
It is never too early to teach children about giving. Instill in your children a charitable nature that will grow with them and encourage them to make charity a lifetime goal. The holidays are a great time to introduce the concept of generosity to children and to teach them the joys of giving.
– Preschoolers: 3-5 years old
* Use opportunities during your children’s playtime with other children or imaginary friends to teach sharing and caring behavior.
* Consider bringing your preschool child along when you participate in charitable events, as long as the event is safe and appropriate for young children.
* Spend family time volunteering or otherwise giving and sharing together. A few ideas: visit elderly friends and take them flowers; bring refreshments to a Habitat for Humanity worksite; cook a meal and deliver it to a shut-in or friend; visit a nursing home and read a book with a resident; make small gifts as a family, then deliver to a shelter or to a friend. These are only a few ideas – you and your family can come up with many more!
* Read books with philanthropic content about giving and sharing.
* Encourage your child’s school to incorporate giving/volunteering into the curriculum.
* Tell family stories of sharing including both giving and receiving.
* Visit museums and focus on heroic figures that have benefited your community or society.
* Talk with your child about why your family cares.
* Develop a family “Caring Container” of activities. Use a basket or other container to hold slips of paper listing different sharing activities that your family can do. When looking for something to do, pick out a slip of paper and do that activity!
* Help your child think of a person in the community whom he/she would like to thank or honor. Then let him/her make a card or small gift for this person, and take him/her to deliver it.
* Gather and deliver excess toys and clothes to a shelter or program for needy children.
* Be a role model of giving and serving.
learntoparent.org
