Donate
It’s likely that your kids have more things than they know what to do with. Donating items, used and new, can help your kids to see how much joy can be spread by sharing with the less fortunate. As the months get colder, encourage your children to go through their closets and donate any old coats or warm clothing to charity. You can also donate fleece blankets to shelters, churches or drives. While your children might never get the chance to see others enjoying their gifts, you can remind them of the importance of keeping these people in their hearts. Knowing that they’ve made the world a more caring place through one small action can foster lots of positivity and self-value among your kids.
Volunteer
Allowing your children to grow up in comfort can one of the greatest gifts you receive as a parent. However, if your children aren’t aware of any world outside of this one, they might not be as grateful as they should be. By volunteering with your children to help those in need, you can help them see why they shouldn’t take things for granted. Volunteering comes with no monetary reward, but the goodwill it brings to your heart can outmatch any paycheck. Coming to somewhere such as a soup kitchen for service can let your kids better understand others and how much their effort makes a difference. Additionally, they can feel good about themselves, because they’ll know that they’re shining a light upon other people’s lives through their altruism.
Be Grateful
Your kids don’t always get their way, and this can make them very upset. However, helping the less fortunate can let them see how much of what they complain about are things that many kids would love to have or aren’t that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things. Counting blessings isn’t something that happens because you tell your kids to do it. You need to reinforce it which your own example. This can help keep them from acting selfishly or from looking at the world with a singular focus.
Like many life skills, children need to be taught how to look at the world through eyes of gratitude. They need to understand that the people they’re helping are no different at the core than they are. They’ve just been dealt a harder lot in life. Helping them to develop empathy at a young age can help shape them into the great people you want them to become.