Getting your kids involved in donating

Giving back is one of life’s greatest pleasures, but it can be a tough lesson to teach your young ones. Oftentimes, children and teenagers become attached to possessions for various reasons, but it’s key to reinforce the importance of donating things to charity.

Teaching the lesson
Whether it’s clothes, toys, games or books it’s important to share with your children that the belongings they no longer need will be going to other kids and families who do need them. This lesson alone will help your kids learn to value the things they do have, and that there are many families who don’t have all the fun clothes and great stuff that they do. A valuable lesson to teach and learn, is that we don’t need so much stuff when others have so little.

Set an example
Like with any great lesson in life, it’s vital to practice what you preach. It’s especially important for your kids to see you regularly removing clutter from your own dresser or closet. Many times, projects like these can seem like quite the daunting task—particularly to a child or teenager. However, setting the example shows that it’s not something you’re making them do, and that it’s something you’re actually doing yourself, too.

Don’t make it overwhelming
It’s easy for anyone to become discouraged when dealing with a large project—things can seem absolutely overwhelming. Try to help your kids so that they’re not tackling too much at once. For example, fill laundry baskets or moving or filing boxes with clutter. Then have your kids or teenager go through each basket or box one at a time. Also, try setting a timer, which will help break the work up. Sort through the boxes or baskets for 30 minutes, and then take a snack break for 10 minutes. Making the overall task less overwhelming will help keep the attention of those who get discouraged easily.

Designated donation box
Don’t allow clutter to simply move from one place to another. This is why it’s smart to have a designated area or box for donations. Anytime your child brings a piece of clothing to you and says, “This is too small now.” That piece of clothing can go directly into the donation box. Having a designated spot for items that are going to be donated helps to minimize everyday clutter, as well as organize the bigger projects. Nothing is worse than removing the clutter from your closet, only to leave the items bagged up and scattered in the hallway or just dumped in the basement.

Don’t let the clutter linger
When you’re getting rid of clutter, be sure to actually remove it from the house. Otherwise, that time and hard work will be all for naught! Besides, you want to keep your designated donation box open so that it continues to stay functional—that’s the last place you want clutter to start collecting. In order to make this simple, try registering for free donation pickups through Good Donor. It’s simple and convenient, and you select when you want a donation truck to come get your things. Please visit www.GoodDonor.org.