A cool holiday idea for the kids

jcc64 wrote: My mom is going to give each one of her 8 grandchildren $20 and instruct them to choose a charity of their choice to donate it to. I'm going to match that, and ask the boys to kick in some of their own money as well, so each kid will have roughly $50 to donate. It's a good way to get them to think about the needs of others, and to understand the joy of giving. Kids get so caught up in the receiving end of Christmas- it's nice to turn it around for them.

amynicole21 replied: Very good idea!

MommyToAshley replied: Great idea! Will you limit the number of charities to choose from or give them choices?

We have a couple charities that we give to each year, but I'd like to do something to get Ashley more actively involved.

grapfruit replied: VERY good idea! Our church talks about this often.

mysweetpeasWil&Wes replied: I think that's an AWESOME idea!! Good for you guys! ITA, we all like to see the joy in our kids eyes when they open gifts, but I don't want my kids forgetting that it's more important to give than to receive.

jcc64 replied: I think I'll make some suggestions, and encourage them to think about their own values when making their decisions. Who seems to need their help the most, why, stuff like that. I'll have the boys look up their charities online to learn more.

DansMom replied: What a great suggestion, Jeanne!

3xsthefun replied: That is a great idea!

HuskerMom replied: Neat idea!

Mommy2Isabella replied: What a great idea!!

We have talked about doing something like this with our children. Having them pick out gifts to give needy kids and whatnot!!

Calimama replied: What a great idea! We're doing Toys for Tots again this year!

AlexsPajamaMama replied:
We do this with Alex

kit_kats_mom replied: Great idea for older kids. Mine are still a little young to get the money thing but we made a run to the charity box today to drop off some very gently used toys and clothes that I'd usually take to the consignment store. We also picked out some toys at Target for toys for tots. We discussed how some childrens parents can't afford to buy presents and how sad we would be if we woke up on Christmas with nothing. They agreed that would be very sad and that maybe getting our gifts would bake a childs christmas better.

redchief replied: We're donating new children's clothing at church (I'm going to find some for older kiddos as they tend to be more expensive and there's always a lot of baby clothes in the basket). Our offices are sponsoring Toys-for-Tots along with the Postal Service, so we'll be adding new toys to that. Again I'm going to go for some toys for older children, 6-8 years, since they seem to get short-changed often.

bawoodsmall replied:
I never thought of it that way Ed. You are right though. I always think of the younger kids. We will be getting something for some older children as well. Thanks for enlightning me.