The Christmas season is on its way. I can almost hear the sound of bells jingling and if I close my eyes, I can see the beautiful Christmas lights twinkling.
My family and I love the holiday season for many reasons—the hot chocolate, the snowmen, the beautiful lights and all the wonderful time we get to spend together. There is something else about Christmas that we, as a family are always excited to participate in and that’s the spirit of giving.
Christmas is not about what we receive, for us it’s about giving to those who may not receive anything otherwise. It’s about teaching our children that there is more to life than what’s under our tree and that Christmas and the spirit of giving is about what’s in our hearts. For years, we have been educating and leading by example to show our children that there are people across the world who rely on programs like Operation Christmas Child.
This year, much like the year before, we will be filling a shoebox to give to a child that needs it. In fact, each of our kids fill their own shoebox!
Baby Girl always packs a box for a girl her age, so she packed one for a Girl in the Ages 2-4 Category. Inside she has chosen to pack many different things: tissues, bandages, soap, socks, toothbrushes and some fun stuff for the little girl.
Little Man is packed a shoebox for a boy ages 5-9. He chose everything to pack all on his own, using the guidelines provided by Samaritan’s Purse.
Tips to Teach Your Children the Gift of Giving with Operation Christmas Child
Go Shopping
Take your children to the store with you to pick out items for them to donate. Allow them, with some guidance, to choose what they think a child may benefit from receiving.
Show and Tell
Choose items from around the house and ask them what they think would happen if they didn’t have access to them? Things like soap and toothbrushes work well to teach kids there are people in the world who don’t have easy access to these regular household items.
Family Trip to the Drop off Centre
Make the trip to the drop-off centre a family outing. Allow your children to hand their shoeboxes in themselves. Make sure to make them feel good as individuals, they will remember what they did that made them feel so positive.
Have Fun
Have a packing party and invite friends and family to participate too! Involve as many people as you want and enjoy packing the shoeboxes for those in need.
When You Are Done Packing Your Shoe Box
Once we filled our shoeboxes they need to be dropped off at our specific collection center. National Collection week for shoeboxes is November 16-21. You can find your collection center on the Operation Christmas Child Website, so you can drop your shoebox off too!
Stay informed by following Operation Christmas Child on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, and by using Hashtags #OperationChristmasChild and #OCCShoeBoxes!
This post was brought to you by Operation Christmas Child, but the images and opinions are my own. For more information, please visit http://www.samaritanspurse.ca/operation-christmas-child.aspx