A great way to teach kids about giving something back to their community is to get them actively involved. Most children are very caring and are quite willing to help other youngsters in need. There is no reason that helping others can’t be fun at the same time, so make a party out of it!
Help your children throw a small party in an effort to collect school supplies for needy children. It’s very easy to do and it won’t cost you much. You have a built in theme for the party: school supplies.
Whip up a store-bought cake mix and let your kids help you decorate it to look like a crayon or a glue stick or a bottle of glue. Just cut it to shape and frost it with colored icing (or “draw” images on a 13” x 9” cake with colored icing or gel). Use primary colors to decorate for the party. Solid colored tableware is less expensive than prints and trademark characters, so just mix and match bright colors.
Grab a cardboard box from a local grocery store, cut off the top, and wrap it in bright paper. Let your kids make a sign for the box with pictures of different school supplies drawn on it.
Help your kids make invitations. You can use regular index cards, pick up blank postcards, or print postcards on cardstock with your computer. When you send out the invitations, and make it clear what kind of party it is so people won’t mistakenly bring birthday presents. Ask that each child bring along a few inexpensive school supplies (everything is on sale right now).
As children arrive, they can place supplies in the decorated box, which you can later take to a local school, church, community center, or a free food/clothing room that gives all kinds of supplies to kids in need.
The kids will have fun and they will feel good knowing that a few more children will start school with the proper supplies this year because of their kindness.