10 Ways To Make The Holidays Meaningful For Kids

As we recover from Black Friday and Cyber Monday, I wonder if there’s a way (or two or three) to show our munchkins some of the non-present sides of the season. Here are some ideas:

1) Get together with some friends or moms’ groups and teach your kids just a few, simple carols. If you’re ambitious, add in a few instruments like bells or some sign language. And go serenade a retirement home. Get extra brownie points by checking to see if you can bring some cookies along.

2) Ask a local soup kitchen if you (and your friends or moms’ groups) can bake some cookies for them and enjoy making (several dozen) cookies for those less fortunate. Or your local Ronald McDonald House, or a shelter for women and children.

3) Go to your local bookstore and buy a book for a child, and maybe inspire the love of learning in another family. Choose a family favorite to make it special, or let your child choose a new holiday classic to add to his or her collection and give a second as a gift to a family less fortunate.

4) Adopt a child or a family to shower with Christmas presents. Let your child choose a toy or two, and explain that although he or she is a very lucky child, others are less fortunate and he or she has the ability to be “Santa’s little helper” and make someone else’s Christmas just a bit more jolly.

5) Collect together old toys and cold weather clothes, still in great condition, and make a trip to your local charity for a drop off.

6) Make some homemade Christmas cards with handprints or footprints (and plenty of sparkle) to send to the military overseas who must be extra-homesick during the holidays. May be include a little wish for “Peace on Earth” so that they may return soon to their families at home.

7) Donate some favorite holiday classics like hot chocolate mix or packages of marshmallows or pre-packaged cookies to a food shelter. You may not be able to feed everyone, but whomever receives it might feel just a bit more warm and toasty. Maybe package each piece nicely with some holiday stickers and a personal note.

8) Consider donating a goat or flock of geese to a family abroad, whose lives and livelihood could change overnight with such a gift. Explain to your child what this might mean to a family who is less fortunate, and have your child help you with handmade cards explaining to loved ones that this year, you have donated the gift of livelihood to another family, in their honor and in the spirit of the season.

9) Pick out a plastic (or other easily sterilized) toy and wrap it up for a child spending his or her Christmas at the hospital. Maybe a new, shiny toy would be a nice distraction as they are recuperating.

10) Make sure to remember loved ones far away with something personal. Maybe a Skype call or a video greeting or some personalized pottery piece for the grandparents or aunts and uncles who are too far away to travel. Nothing says “Merry Christmas” like the personal touch.