Tips for Getting Your Children Involved with Charity

To be generous is to be selfless – charity is the ultimate heartfelt, altruistic deed and it is something that many of us aspire towards in our daily lives. Whether it is through regular monthly donations, helping out at a bake sale or competing in a sponsored run on behalf of your favourite charity, the chances are that you will be incorporating charity into your life on a regular basis.

However, can the same be said of your children and family?

As parents, we want only the best for our children – we love and support them and do our best to encourage them to engage in positive, rewarding behaviour. Despite this, it can be incredibly easy to overlook the many benefits that promoting generosity, selflessness and charity can bring to both you and your children.

By sharing the rewards of charity from an early age, our children are more likely to recognise generosity as a good thing and should then be more likely to continue charity throughout their lives. If we sow the seeds when they are young, the next generation will grow up to become thoughtful and selfless, doing their best to help and support the people around them.

So, if you are interested in helping your children get more involved with charity, here are some of the best ways to do just that.

Pick the Right Cause

Although every charitable cause is a worthy one, it’s a simple fact of life that some people will identify more with certain organisations than others. Whether it’s a children’s charity or an animal charity, a local hospice or a faith-based cause, encourage your kids to help you pick out a charity to support. That way, they should feel more motivated to help out their chosen charity. If you need some inspiration, why not learn more about the impact that your generous donations can have on a charity?

Get Everyone Involved

Make charity a family event and ensure that everyone gets involved! Encourage the little ones by picking activities or ideas that appeal to their interests and can be easily adapted to suit young fundraisers. You should also try to cater to each individual’s strengths; for instance, if your child is a budding artist, why not let them get creative making posters or banners for your chosen cause?

Don’t Be Afraid to Get Creative

Boring charity events and run-of-the-mill fundraisers? They’re so last year! Instead, why not do your best to inject a new lease of life into charitable work and do what you can to put your own unique spin on your family’s fundraising efforts. Don’t be afraid to let the kids offer up any suggestions of their own, either. Sometimes the wackiest, most creative ideas can end up having the greatest success!

Don’t Overdo It

Although you might be passionate about charitable work, your children may not see things in quite the same way that you do. Try to help them to see what you are doing as something fun and positive – an activity to look forward to rather than try to avoid. If things simply aren’t going the way you hoped, the best course of action may just be to admit (temporary) defeat and try again on a different day. After all, there’s no shame in doing your best!

At the end of the day, many children will learn best by example which is why it is so important that you set the precedent and show your little ones why charity is good. When you work together and get the whole family involved, you can all enjoy a fun, positive experience while doing good for a cause that matters to you.

I would love to hear if you and your children are involved with charity, and the fun events you have been to together?

Claire x