The holidays are over! The holidays are over! Everyone breathe a collective deep breath and gird yourselves for a new year. Don’t get me wrong, I love celebrating Christmas and the flurry of activities that it brings, from baking cookies (I personally baked over 300 cookies this year) to shopping and wrapping gifts to serving others. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy just thinking about it.
Want to continue that warm, fuzzy all year long while teaching your kids the value of service? Well, you can! I personally want to teach my kids to be thankful all year long, and what better way than to schedule service projects throughout the year? Sounded good to me, so I have compiled a list of ideas for my family and I to do together and I wanted to pass it along to you.
*Disclaimer-some of these are specific to the Houston area, but I’m sure that you could find something similar in your geographic area. Here goes!
- Host a food drive in your neighborhood and deliver canned goods to a local food pantry
- Spend time boxing food in a local food pantry
- Make and deliver holiday appropriate cards to a local nursing home. My idea was Valentine cards since all the stores have ditched the Christmas candy before the New Year even began! Sheesh!
- Write notes or send care packages to soldiers serving over seas
- Participate in a welcoming crew to welcome home soldiers when they arrive at the airport
- Clean up your neighborhood park/pick up trash
- Help put out flags at a Veterans Cemetery on Memorial Day. They also need help picking the flags up after Memorial Day, so that’s another chance to help out, too!
- Visit your local VA Hospital
- Deliver snacks to your local shelter. If you live in the Houston area like me, check out Star of Hope for a schedule of approved snacks to share with the kids.
- Visit your local children’s hospital and deliver craft bags or toys for the children undergoing treatment.
- Another idea specific to the Houston/Katy area is to visit Krause House. You can schedule to bring dinner to the residents there. Check out their website by clicking the link here.
- Serve food at a local soup kitchen.
There’s only twelve ideas, one per month so as not to get too overwhelmed. So, go forth, home schoolers and spread the warm fuzzies and be blessed to be a blessing in 2016!
