After several days of gently discussing this topic over dinner, we started to gather old clothes and toys from around the house that we could donate to those children who need them more than we do. Clothes were easier for her to part with than toys, and yes, there were some tears, but in the end we carted off a box and 3 bags of stuff, plus a baby gym, to donate. To get her even more involved in the process, I also took her with me to help sort out the many items that had been donated by the school community to give to several charities that help children in extremely poor areas in this country and neighbouring countries. While I unpacked donations, she ran around delivering them to their correct table set up in the school gym. Then we helped to bag everything up, label it, and drag it out to be loaded onto a truck. She was quite excited by the idea that she was getting to 'be like Santa' -- though she was a bit disappointed to discover that we were not going to deliver these presents to the children ourselves. Maybe next year.
Today is Day 17 of the Creative Christmas Countdown advent activity calendar, and it's from Terri at My Creative Family. She's got some suggestions for how you can get your kids involved in giving to charities.
