If your little one is like mine, he or she has a special lovey or two. However, as I write today on The New York Times’ Motherlode blog, not all kids are so lucky, especially homeless children living in shelters.
The good news, however, is that there is a way to help change this and teach your children a lesson about giving back in the process. It’s the strategy that is today’s hint: Encourage your young kids to give their unused, like-new blankets, books and stuffed animals to children living in shelters, and make the donation happen in person if possible.
Since kids know how much they value their special toys and books, donating similar unused items to children in need — and seeing how much they appreciate their new nighttime treasures – may make the importance of giving back understandable to young minds. And it turns out that there are nonprofits that can help you do just this. One such charity, which I write about in the Motherlode piece, is Project Night Night, a San-Francisco nonprofit that focuses specifically on delivering such items to homeless children across the country.
You can read more about Project Night Night – and about creating “Night Night Packages” for kids in need — in the full piece, “Project Night Night: Bedtime Treasuries for Kids With Little of Their Own,” on the Motherlode blog.
Meanwhile, other organizations that also accept or help with stuffed animal donations include Stuffed Animals for Emergencies Inc., Donation Town and local police and fire departments in some areas.
How do you teach your young children about the importance of giving back?
Follow Hint Mama on Facebook and Twitter, and read more about her and her disclosures.
[…] One Way to Teach Young Children About Giving […]