How Kids Can Give Back Over the Holidays

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The holiday season is upon us. Finding the perfect gift and spending quality time with your family are probably two of the more pressing issues on your mind. What if we told you there was a way to easily achieve both at one time?

Volunteering during the holiday season is a way to do just that! You’ll not only enjoy quality time together, but you’ll also be giving the perfect gift to those in need!

How Volunteering Benefits Kids

There are plenty of benefits for children who volunteer, including:

  • Making them more likely to make positive, healthy choices
  • Helping enhance self-esteem
  • Improving psychological well-being
  • Encouraging compassion and altruism
  • Providing experiential learning opportunities
  • Helping children experience and appreciate diversity
  • Teaching valuable life skills

And the benefits of participating in a community service project aren’t just limited to the ones we’ve listed!

Ideas for Holiday Volunteering

No matter the age of your children, there are always simple ways they can volunteer and help out the community.

If you have a younger child, he or she can help pick out non-perishable food items that can be donated to a food bank, decorate cards for soldiers overseas or children who are in hospitals, or even stuff new socks with items that homeless men and women could be given when passed on the streets.

Older children can donate gently used books and DVDs to local children’s hospitals, schedule a visit to a nursing home and interact with the residents, or host a hot chocolate or cider stand from which the proceeds are donated to a local charity.

Keeping the Volunteer Spirit Year-round

It’s great to volunteer with your kids throughout the holiday season, but keeping that effort going year-round is a fantastic goal to have!

By keeping some form of volunteering on your family’s schedule, you’re helping your child learn that it’s not about what you have, but about empathy and the value of giving to others.

You can help encourage your child’s altruistic side by letting him or her pick a cause to support and discussing the difference between donating time and money. Both are valuable donations for the cause/charity of your family’s choosing, but it’s still important for your child to learn the difference between the two types of donating.

Looking for other ways to inspire your child to become his or her best self? Check out the programs Drama Kids International offers that are specially designed to help kids gain valuable life skills.

Three Thanksgiving Crafts Your Child will Love

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The Thanksgiving holiday is fast approaching, and while menu planning and Black Friday strategizing are probably near the top of the list, chances are that coming up with fun, kid-friendly Thanksgiving craft ideas is also something you’ve considered.

We know it’s a busy time of the year, so we’ve found three kid-approved ideas that are simple, yet fun!

Kid-approved Thanksgiving crafts

Not only are these activities a fun way to keep your child occupied, but they also present an opportunity for him or her to get involved in the holiday festivities and help with the decorating!

Feather Place Mats

This activity requires some feathers, orange (or whatever Thanksgiving color you prefer) card stock, kid-safe scissors and glue.

First, your child will trace the dinner plate you plan to use on your turkey day table. Then cut out the traced circles. Once those have been cut out, all he or she will need to do is put a dab of glue on each feather and then glue them along the edges of the circles. Voila—brand-new feather place mats!

Paper Leaf Table Runner

Break out the fall-colored construction paper or lined paper and child-safe scissors—and let your child’s creative side shine!

This is another crafty activity that lets your child become part of the Thanksgiving decorating, by having him or her cut out leaf designs. Once the designs have been cut out, your children can then write a few things they are thankful for on some of the leaves.

Then glue the leaves together into small groups, to create a design that will run down the center of your table. The finished product creates a heartfelt, homemade runner for the family table.

Corn Husk Flower Painting

Corn and Thanksgiving are just a natural fit, so this craft is something that makes sense and is fun for kids!

You’ll need some dried corn husks, some non-toxic paints, chalk markers and a hot glue gun to make this project come to life. First, an adult should hot glue the corn husks together in a flower pattern. Then allow your child to paint the “flower petals” to his or her heart’s content once the glue has dried.

Thanksgiving is about spending time with family and being thankful. Hopefully some of these craft ideas will inspire some quality family time and help your child embrace his or her creative side just a bit more!

Drama Kids International offers age-appropriate developmental after-school enrichment classes for children ages 4–17 that help them learn to better communicate and express themselves, harness their creativity, and build confidence and self-esteem