Teaching Children Charity
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Posted by Estela Kennen Aug 12, 2007 |
Children should learn the importance of giving of their time and money to others early on. There are several intertwined messages in charitable action:
- We live in an interconnected world
- Some people (and animals and places) face less fortunate circumstances than others
- We can – and should—do something about it.
Encouraging charitable action also benefits the children themselves. It:
- Helps teach empathy
- Shows children that their actions can have a positive impact
- Helps connect children to their (local, national, or international) community
- Helps children better understand and cope with unpleasant events
There are many ways parents (and teachers and mentors) can introduce the concept of philanthropy into the hearts and minds of children.
1. Help your child decide what organizations to give the donations to. Local non-profits addressing children’s issues or organizations addressing topics of interest to your child (such as animal sanctuaries) are all good candidates for giving.
2. Encourage the child to regularly set aside part of the money they get or earn for charity. Popular possibilities include allotting:
- 1/3 for spending, 1/3 for saving, and 1/3 for giving, or
- ½ for spending, ¼ for saving, and ¼ for giving, or
- tithing 10-15%
3. Match the child’s monetary contribution to the charity of their choice. It can be a 1-to-1 match or more or less, depending on the amount and your particular circumstances.
4. Have your child donate gently used cloths, books, and toys to a local charity.
5. When there is a drive for canned goods, new school supplies, new toys, etc. have your child pick out what to purchase and donate. Make sure the child understands the item(s) are not for him/her to keep.
6. Encourage your child to volunteer in meaningful and interesting ways. As your child gets older the volunteer opportunities will only increase; most volunteer opportunities have relatively high age minimums. However, even young children can take part in certain volunteer jobs:
- Cleaning up a park of roadside
- Passing water out to participants at a fund-raising run
- Visiting, reading to, and playing games with residents at a nursing home
- Writing get-well cards to hospital patients or thank you cards to military service members
- Helping prepare mass mailings (ie, stuffing envelopes)