Build-A-Bear Workshop has provided information on how to have a Helping Holiday that is aimed at children. The main lesson is to do something that your children enjoy and turn it into a way to raise money for a charity, collect items to donate to a charity or to help individuals close to home.

Here are some suggestions:

• A Bake Sale -  donate the money raised to a charity of your choice
• A Food Drive – ask family, friends, your school, place or worship, etc. to donate food and donate to a homeless shelter
• Make Ornaments or Cards – do this on your own or gather up some friends, then bring the finished products to a nursing home or hospital
• Collect Toys – new, unwrapped toys can be donated to Toys For Tots
• Collect Clothing – gloves, socks, coats, etc. can all be used at homeless shelters

You can also purchase Build-A-Bear Gifts That Give Back, where a portion of their proceeds go to specific charities. For example, Kennel Pals raise money for animal shelters, pet rescue and rehabilitation. Bearemy’s Kennel Pals® at Build-A-Bear Workshop®, Shop Now!

Build-A-Bear Workshop has been involved with giving back for the holidays and every day for years. Their program, Huggable Heroes, recognizes young leaders who make a difference in their community. You can nominate some one you know and encourage your children by learning about the Heroes already chosen and teaching your children to give back this holiday season.

(affiliate link included)

The Elmer’s Virtual Bag It Forward is charity blog meme, bloggers are able to raise $10 per blog post for Adopt-A-Classroom by writing a blog post and donating a virtual bag of school supplies . Elmer’s will donate $10 per each post written to Adopt-A-Classroom, up to $10,000.

HOW CAN YOU JOIN? It’s easy.

• Participate in the Elmer’s Virtual Bag It Forward and by giving away a virtual bag of school supplies and creating a blog post with specific rules described below.
• Elmer’s will donate up to $10,000 to Adopt-A-Classroom.
• You can give as many virtual bags as you want.
• The Elmer’s Virtual Bag It Forward will officially begin at 12 AM EST on July 22, 2010 and end at 12 PM EST on September 10, 2010. Blog posts submitted to us before or after that time period will not be counted.
• The blog post link has to be submitted in the comment section below for your participation to be counted.
• In addition copy and paste the following text into your blog post:

ELMER’S VIRTUAL BAG IT FORWARD RULES

• Copy and paste these rules into your blog post.
• Create a blog post giving a “virtual bag of school supplies” to other bloggers or write about your Back to School shopping trip at Walmart.
• Link back to the person who gave you a bag of school supplies.
• Let each person you are giving a virtual bag of school supplies know you have given them a bag.
• Leave your link in the Elmer’s Virtual Bag It Forward comment section. You can also find the official rules of this virtual #bagitforward program there.
• Elmer’s is donating $10 for each blog participating in the Virtual Bag It Forward Donation to Adopt-A-Classroom (up to total of $10,000 for blog posts written by August 12, 2010).
• Please note that only one blog post per blog url will count towards the donation.

Here is the photo you can use for your virtual bag or create your own!

I’m giving virtual bags to anyone who wants to accept them and write a the same type of Elmer’s Bag It Forward charity post.

This summer, we are working on prying her off the computer, away from books (not that it’s bad for her to be reading!) and the TV so she can work off some energy, and learn about being a team player. She loves PE but doesn’t like the competition factor of group sports. What ends up happening with her is that she gets upset when she is compared to other children. In PE, there is a teacher who is responsible for allowing every student to take part in the games that they play, doesn’t allow children to bully others, and provides different levels of sports for her students.

How do we accomplish this on our own? We’ve decided to have play dates in which sports are the main focus, including basketball, hockey and good old fashioned games like hide and seek. When we as parents oversee these games, we can allow the children to play kindly with each other. Another thing we’re doing is enrolling our daughter into swimming lessons. This is to help her gain confidence. Hopefully this will enable her to take part in competitive sports if she is interested later on.

We’ve seen both the good and bad in sports with our older daughter who was on a roller hockey team and a school track team. Parents often were the worst offenders, who used foul language, became angry with coaches and referees and made what should be a pleasant time for children, a difficult time. ResponsibleSports.com is working towards changing the environment of children’s sports. They provide resources for coaches and parents and support volunteer sports programs. They are funded by Liberty Mutual.

This blog post is sponsored by Liberty Mutual with the opportunity for an Amex Gift Card of various denominations depending on content, comments and Twitter discussion.

photo credit: Doug Aghassi / Dougit Design

Her toy box is full to the brim with toys and games she no longer uses. She has small Disney toys that she used to play with and then decided to keep as a collection, but now those are taken over with newer video games, books, trading cards and stuffed animals. She just has too much. I don’t want her to sell her things or trade them, instead I want her to give them away. I want her to learn how it feels to give from the heart, to help people in need.

• We have a local thrift store that we learned about through our church. I make donations there and have brought her with me when I’ve done that and to shop there. She has met the men and women that have been helped through their programs and the Pastor who oversees the programs. We are going to go through some of her belongings and donate them to this local charity.

• Next, we are going to give away some of her puzzles and craft supplies to the nursing home where my aunt resides at now. This will help her see her items being used by people she knows.
• We’ll also gather some books for her school library. We can bring them there this summer. Again, she’ll get to see them “in action”.
• Another idea I’ve come across is ClutterClast. Darryle Pollack has begun this trend on her blog. What you do is take a photo of an item, put it on your blog with a story about it. Then wait for comments of what to do with it. Someone may want it for themselves, or to give it to a friend. You mail it off to them. They take a photo of themselves and the item and send it to you so you can post it on your blog. This is a lot of work for me right now, but if my daughter is willing to do it, I’ll help her here. If you’re interested, you can sign up for ClutterClast on Ning.

The fun part comes in when my daughter feels what it’s like to give and feel good about it. The thrift store may be the hardest but if I bring her to make her donation in person, I’m sure that she will be told and shown how important her gift is.

How do you teach your children to give or donate?

photo credit: the schneider clan

The recent election had people communicating with each other on the internet, on Twitter, on Facebook, on blogs and in person. Even strangers talked about who they were voting for and why. Have you thought about how much you and your children talked about the election and the issues involving it?

In my home, I try my best to keep my 9 year old informed of current events. We read the newspaper together at breakfast, watch the news together and talk about what we read and see. She also enjoys reading Scholastic News that she gets from school.

Some Issues We Discussed:

• How To Decide Who Will Get Your Vote
• Why Voting is Important
• Civil Rights
• Women’s Rights
• Poverty in the USA
• Volunteering and Giving Back
• Respect For People With Whom We Disagree
• Republicans and Democrats

Even though the election is over, our conversations have continued. We are continuing to learn about the government and how it affects not only the people in this country but the people all over the world. We talk about what we hope that President-Elect Obama will do and continue to read about the transition of power. We are taking part in helping make changes by volunteering together to do things in our community. We also watch the Change.gov website.

Have you found that this election in particular, got you and your children talking more about what is going on in the world? Have you made any changes to your lifestyle due to the election?