10 Outreach Opportunities for Kids
We all want our kids to be others-focused. Raising them in North Dallas makes that a real challenge! Everything they want is at their fingertips and even what they don't have...they are still among the richest percentages of humans in the world!!! How do we raise these kids to think more about others than they do about themselves?
We model it!
Here are 10 ideas you can do with your kids to help begin conversations that will spark life-long compassion and charity! Remember it's not about doing it perfectly- it's about letting them take a lead and feel the impact they can make!
1. Keep 2-3 Ziploc bags packed with homeless lunches in your car. Talk to your child about how these people don't have food - and show them how you give to help them.
2. Find a chance to pay for the order in front of you. Talk to your child about blessing someone else for NO REASON! Just wanting to give them something to smile about- how would you feel if someone paid for your food and your whole dinner was free!
3. Make cards for firefighters or police. It's easy- grab some paper, markers, stickers and get to writing! Just put "thank you for keeping us safe" on a card and let your child decorate. Talk about how these brave officers keep your family safe by staying up and guarding the city while we sleep!
4. Get a group of people together and make knotted fleece pet blankets for the shelters. These knotted blankets can give a lost pet some comfort while they wait for their owners to find them!
5. Pom-Pom tray buddies! Make some special friends for a children's hospital lunch tray. These cute pals make a connection with a sick child. Talk to your child about how some kids are so sick they can't come home during the day- or night and they have to live at the hospital!
6. Collect food for a food pantry! This is easy- just have people leave a bag on your porch and collect it to deliver to a pantry near you!
Leia's personal Favorite- personal story attached!
7. Collect coats for a shelter. When Trinity was 7 she collected over a HUNDRED coat for Stew Pot Dallas! We told her some people to get cold because they don't have a place to go at night... she did the rest by making signs, asking schools, businesses and friends if they would clean out their coat closet and bring her the extras. When you share with your kids what is going on - look for their compassion/empathy and draw it out! Let their own gifts change the world! It's so fun to see what God built into their hearts!
8. Visit a nursing home and bring something to do with them! It could be manicured, a beach ball game, cards, coloring, a craft. Anything where kids connect with the elderly - both leave uplifted and thinking more about each other.
9. Choose a charity and earn the giving. Our family loves to look at Samaritan's Purse Christmas catalog and choose a holiday goal. We all figure out how we are either going to give up something or earn something to make our goal happen. A goat for a family, some supplies to start a new trade, money to start a new business... what can you impact?
10. Think of a family in your community that might just need a little "love", a little "hug" - how could you help them this week? Maybe a meal, a card, drive their kids, pick up some groceries (when you're already there) What could your family do to uplift a family this week?
The only way our kids will have a heart for others is if they see it modeled in us! So show them compassion, empathy, energy and love for the community. You will never regret this investment!