Is it just me or is it one of the most challenging, yet critically important tasks as a parent to teach naturally selfish (by human nature) little people about humility, generosity and service to others?
Truth is, whether we have much or have little, we are called to give and to serve one another. This is something that I’ve been thinking about more recently as the holiday season is quickly approaching. The “season of want” can too quickly overtake the “season of giving.” However, if we’re intentional we can truly leverage the Christmas season to create invaluable teaching moments, while even starting meaningful traditions, to train up the hearts of our littles, point them to Jesus and bless and serve our neighbors in the process.
So, while calibrating my own intentions this holiday season, I issued a plea to my Facebook friends for assistance, and oh my, you all came through in a beautiful way.
So friends, here are 30+ ideas to seize teaching moments during the holiday season to teach children about generosity, service to others, and the true meaning of Christmas:
- Go caroling at a local nursing home, assisted living facility or from the front doorstep of elderly homebound individuals in your community.
- Make homemade treats together and deliver them to the local hospital for nurses, the police station, the fire station, or EMS hub as a small way to thank them for their service all year-around.
- Have your teen select a Bible verse or encouraging quote specifically for each of their friends and/or extended family members, write them on a notecard and drop them in the mail.
- Drop off homemade cards or small gifts for children who will spend the holidays in the hospital….and make sure their support persons feel remembered as well. Gifts from the local dollar store or dollar bin will bring a smile.
- Shop for and pack an Operation Christmas Child shoebox. Have your child compose a handwritten note or color a picture page to include inside, pray over your box together and then watch the short video on YouTube to explain the ministry to them. Pay for the “Track Your Box” label and read together about the country or region of the world that it ends up and pray for them.
- Start a list of things you are thankful for and display it in a central spot in your home. Add one thing to the list each day (during breakfast or dinner) and stop to thank God specifically for that thing.
- Keep some bills or spare change in your wallet and allow your child(ren) to drop a donation in the Salvation Army red kettles.
- Volunteer for a shift to ring the bell for a Salvation Army Red Kettle project. Help your children understand the work of the Salvation Army that the donations go to support.
- Contact you child’s school administration or guidance counselor to “adopt” and shop for an anonymous classmate in need.
- Make homemade cards for elderly individuals in your church congregation. Have your child address the envelope and take them to the post office.
- Introduce your children to your favorite non-profit agencies in your community by teaching them about the valuable work they do and the people they serve.
- Select an “angel” from an “Angel Tree” (whether within a church, DSS, United Way Christmas Bureau, etc) representing a child similar to them in age and interests, and take them shopping for a child of their choice.
- Make “Blessing Bags” equipped with non-perishable food items with pop tops, bottled water, gloves, toboggan or warm socks and basic hygiene items. Keep them in your car to give to the homeless at a stoplight. Your child can also decorate the bags or make a homemade card to enclose for encouragement.
- Make homemade goodies together and randomly deliver them to your neighbors or special people in your child’s life.
- Make homemade cut-and-tie blankets, pray over them and deliver them to an oncology office for patients undergoing chemo treatments.
- Prioritize experiences with loved ones over gifts – instead of toys, plan something to do together as a family. Better yet, have your children plan the events of the day you’ll spend together.
- Make a calendar for the new year with their family and friends’ birthdays on it so they can think up small ways to make others feel special throughout the year.
- Perform a “Random Act of Kindness” to a complete stranger and challenge your children to think up ways to randomly bless others – leave a note with a word of encouragement under someone’s windshield wiper, leave coins in a laundromat, anonymously pay for someone else’s lunch at a restaurant, help a mother with small children put their groceries in their car…etc.
- Volunteer to walk a dog at the local Humane Society.
- Challenge each other to perform an act of service to someone else each day and at the end of each day discuss how we each intentionally served someone else. Mom and dad, you participate too!
- Have your child make a homemade card to include with a gift for their teacher(s). If they are old enough to write, encourage them to write a letter expressing their thanks.
- Send a care package to a deployed military service member.
- Attend the Christmas Eve Candlelight service at your church.
- Read the story of Jesus’ birth from the Bible as a family.
- Make a homemade Advent calendar (or purchase one) and make a routine to read a passage every night leading up until Christmas.
- Sing together as a family the traditional Christmas hymns they don’t often hear anymore.
- Take your children individually to the Dollar Store and let them select a gift for each of their siblings.
- Have your children to select three toys they don’t play with anymore and donate them to a local charity of your choice. You can use this act of kindness to tell the story of the Magi and the three gifts they presented Jesus after his birth.
- Read the Christmas Story from the Bible and ask your child to illustrate it in their own way after you read it.
- Take them to a “Paint-Your-Own Pottery” store and have them paint ornaments for their grandparents.
- Volunteer to serve a meal together at an area Soup Kitchen.
- Go grocery shopping and fill a community “Blessing Box” that contains complimentary food items for those in need.
- Challenge your child to pay a friend a sincere compliment.
Drop a comment to keep adding to this list!
“When someone has been given much, much will be required in return; and when someone has been entrusted with much, even more will be required.” -Luke 12:48
“Then a poor widow came and dropped in two coins. Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has given more than all the others who are making contributions.” -Mark 12:44
“Don’t forget to do good and to share what you have because God is pleased with these kinds of sacrifices.” -Hebrews 13:16
“Instead of each person watching out for their own good, watch out for what is better for others.” -Philippians 2:4
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