Developing a sense of responsibility in children

IF you have children, it’s a parenting no-brainer to get involved in a service project this holiday season. Several studies have shown that children who volunteer experience a positive effect on their grades, attitudes toward education, and self-esteem. Volunteering also leads to reduced drug use and huge declines in dropout rates and teen pregnancies. There is also research linking youth volunteering to a higher quality of life as an adult, and showing that families that focus more on the material side of the holidays tend to feel less happy than families that focus on spending time together. What better way to spend time together than volunteering? It’s really the best gift you can give your children and yourselves.

I started incorporating service projects into our family’s holiday traditions a few years ago after I read a book that emphasised the idea that rituals are about passing down your values and beliefs to your children. And it hit me that even though I always tell my children that Christmas is about giving, it had really become more about baking and wrapping and singing, with a token volunteer project thrown in. Although these family rituals are still important to us, I realised that I also wanted to establish service as a huge part of what we do during the holidays. The kids liked it so much that it stuck, and we tend to do one service project a month. Part of the key to our success with the projects is letting the kids pick out what they want to do.

Holiday volunteering ideas for kids: Clothes and toy clean out: When December rolls around, have your children go through their toys and clothes and find some that they can donate to goodwill. Explain that, for many parents, buying gifts for friends and family may be difficult, so this is a way to help these families out. If you encounter resistance, the “make room for new presents” strategy can be very persuasive. You can also make a “giving box.” Have the kids decorate a large box to serve as a collection box throughout the season or the year. Every time they outgrow an item, they can toss it in the box. When the box is full, take it to a charity.

Make Greeting Cards: You can go to Hugs and Hope or Send Kids the World to find information about sick children who are eager for “happy mail”. There are even photos of the children, which makes it a more personal experience. Or, you can deliver cards to a local nursing home. In addition to greeting cards, you can make Christmas decorations like paper chains or snowflakes, which are a great way to brighten what may be an otherwise dreary environment for people.

Help the hungry: Donate food to a food bank this holiday season. Some families buy the same ingredients that they use for their holiday dinner and donate them to a food bank, which can make the experience more meaningful for a child. Better yet ... when you drop off the donations, stay for a while and help pack boxes and sort food.

Random acts of kindness: A service project doesn’t have to be a formal event organised through an established nonprofit. It’s just about helping. If you have an elderly neighbour, shovel their driveway for them. Bring cookies and thankyou cards to your volunteer firemen, police, or librarians. Make care kits for the homeless that include a bottle of water and a granola bar.

Sponsor a family: Often you can find giving trees at churches or malls, where you can pick a tag off the tree and buy a gift that has been requested. One year, my children were really moved by a child who had requested socks and Tupperware for his mom. If there’s no giving tree near you or you want to do more for a family, check out The Box Project.

Make blankets: This was one of my family’s favourite projects. At first, I thought it was going to be a big hassle because I don’t sew. But then I realised that there’s absolutely no sewing involved. You basically take two pieces of fleece and cut fringes around the edges. Then you knot the fringes to make a nice, plush blanket. For instructions, visit Project Linus. These blankets can be dropped off at animal shelters, homeless shelters, pregnancy centres, etc.

Making volunteering a habit

It can be hard to make volunteering a habit, especially during the holiday season when routines are often a bit out of whack anyway. What works for my family is to take down the big family calendar and actually write in the service projects on the days we plan to do them. Because we cannot function without our calendar, it is a constant reminder of our goals.