Infuse Your Season with Giving & Kindness: Help Your Kids Think of Others

“Santa bring me a pink scooter!!”

Pause.

“AND CANDIES!”

This is my two-year-old speaking, her eyes wide as she stands on tiptoe in her excitement. She’s insistent that Santa is bringing her a scooter and candy (her most favorite thing in the world!).

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Our seven-year-old counts his money almost every night. He dumps the contents of his ceramic bank and counts quarters and stray dollars, scheming with his brother about what they’ll save up for if Santa doesn’t bring them just the right gifts.

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All of this is happening within a home that doesn’t emphasize things. In fact, it’s an often-voiced tenant of our family purpose statement: we value people and experiences over things.

We avoid asking the kids what they want for Christmas, and we don’t remind them to make Santa lists.

But still, they can’t help but fixate on the big red bag that—as we speak—Santa is filling with toys.

I remember doing the same thing as a child, so it doesn’t worry me. I love the hope and joy and magic that Santa brings to the children of the world.

But this time of year also tends to make my children think a lot about themselves, and I want to balance that out with plenty of opportunities to think of others.

So far this Christmas season, I’ve talked to a lot of moms who feel the same way, so I wanted to pull together some resources that we can all draw from to help infuse our holiday season with giving and kindness—for us and our kids.

My hope is that these ideas are simple enough for you to implement this week, without a ton of research or preparation (two things that often hang me up!)

7 Ways to Help Your Kids Think of Others This Season

1. Buy someone a goat.

Many really great organizations offer holiday gift guides, where you can contribute to anything from baby care to literacy classes, or buy a chicken, goat, pig, cow, or (get this) water buffalo for a family in a developing country. Check out the gift guides of Compassion, World Vision, and Heifer International.

I also appreciated Heifer’s “Give Where Needed Most” option, which takes any decision out of the process and allows someone with more knowledge to decide where your money is going.

… Although admittedly, that may take some of the joy out of it for the kiddos. (“We bought a goat!”)

2. Line a manger with hay (and kindness).

Add a piece of straw to Baby Jesus’s manger for every act of kindness performed, and enjoy the satisfaction of giving Baby Jesus a soft place to lay his head come December 25th.

3. Fill a stocking with love. And give it to Jesus.

Buy a white or gold stocking and hang it with the others. As the month goes on, fill the sock with love. Acts of kindness, something you’re grateful for—anything positive that you can write on a paper and slip into a stocking. On Christmas Eve, read the contents of the stocking as a family.

5. Perform some random acts of kindness.

I’ll admit: sometimes I’m afraid to start traditions because I’m nervous I won’t manage to follow through. I mean, what if poor Baby Jesus only gets a few scraggly pieces of hay to line his manger?

So if you’re the mom who’s nervous about follow-through, give yourself permission to just do some random goodness this season. Read this great list {22 Tiny Acts of Kindness You Can Do in the Middle of Your Week} or this one that’s more geared for kids, and pick a few to do!

6. Visit an elderly friend.

Some of my most tender Christmas memories in recent years involve visiting our friend Gladys in a care center. Seeing her eyes fill with tears as we said goodbye (despite her typically gruff exterior) helped our family remember what this season is all about.

Besides, does it really feel like the holidays without seeing a white-haired woman in a Christmas sweater? #happiness

7. Help your children make a treat or craft for a neighbor.

I do this (and I bet many of you do too), but I sometimes skip a really important step: getting my kids involved! Take something you already do, and help your kids catch the spirit of it by letting them help bake, sign or decorate a card, doorbell ditch, or deliver the gift.

8. Give a big tip!

I found this idea in a great post about giving back this season. A commenter, Sarah, had the simplest, sweetest idea:

“We’re big fans of the huge tip. In the days leading up to Christmas, we’re usually so burned out from baking food-gifts that we have no interest in cooking dinner, so we head out to the restaurants we’ve spent the most time at over the course of the year and blow the servers’ minds. We do try to keep it relatively anonymous (as you say, ‘get out of there as quickly as possible’), but we’ve had servers chase us down in the parking lot to say thank you.”

The key with any of these ideas is to really let our kids take part. I know this can be easier said than done (especially if you’re at all holiday weary), but… Carry on, mamas! What you’re doing every day is important. Sending love!