5 Tips to Teach Your Kids About Doing Good
We all want to make the world a better place, but how do you find the time when you're busy being a mom? Make volunteering a family affair! You'll get to spend quality time together and teach your kids to put kindness first. We checked in with Jenny Friedman, author of The Busy Family's Guide to Volunteering and founder of the non-profit group Doing Good Together who offered these 5 tips for teaching your kids about doing good.
- Get kids involved early! I believe whatever age your kid is right now is the right age to teach them about community service. I started volunteering with my kids when one of my daughters was 6 months and my other daughter was 3 years old! It's like when we say it's never too early to read to children. We read to them before they know the words and they grow to associate reading as a pleasant experience you do as a family. It can be the same with doing service if you introduce it early!
- Set a "compassionate" example! Build a foundation of love and caring at home. Be present and available for your kids when they need you because kids can't care for others without being cared for themselves. You can also inspire them by reading books about heroes or people who are helping the world.
- Help them navigate their feelings! Identify and talk about feelings with your kids especially when you have to discipline them. Help them deal with strong emotions because it's not always easy to be caring and compassionate especially when you don't understand what you're feeling.
- Make kindness a family value! Let your kids know how your family values kindness and how important it is to everyone. Teach your kids to think about what it feels like to be in other people's shoes and learn the consequences of both kind and unkind behavior. Ask how they think grandma felt getting a thank you note or how someone felt when they held open a door for them. These are all teachable moments to show how being kind affects other people positively.
- Provide opportunites to practice compassion! Get your child involved in service opportunities. It can be as easy as helping to rake a neighbor's lawn, or making a card for a child who's sick. These are small acts of kindness that hold big lessons that will last a lifetime. For more family volunteer ideas, go to Doing Good Together.
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