Are you looking to give your children a teachable moment this holiday season?

The holidays are about a lot more than gift giving – they’re also about giving back.

On that theme, here are three ways your children can give back this holiday season.

1. Making Something

Children may want to give back, but unfortunately children don’t have money, so what’s a child to do?

The fact that your child doesn’t have money shouldn’t stop them from giving back this holiday season. Instead of buying something, your children could make something.

Some of my fondest memories I have as a child is making arts and crafts with my parents. We would draw in pencil crayons, paint and make paper mâché.

Arts and crafts time with your kids can be a great way to teach them a lesson in generosity and keep them busy. It’s a win-win situation for both parents and children.

2. Donating Gifts

If you’re like most Canadian families, your kids will be fortunate to receive more gifts than they know what to do with during their childhood.

Some of the gifts will end up getting used, while some of them will end up at the bottom of their closet.

If your children received gifts that they don’t plan to use, why not give them to a charity or a family in need? It can be a great teachable moment for your children and a great lesson in gift giving.

If your children don’t have any gifts to give, why not go with them to pick out a toy from the store for a child in need? Again, it will teach them a great lesson in generosity for later in life.

3. Volunteering

A family tradition we have is volunteering around the holidays.

Volunteering helps us realize how fortunate we truly are.

Your kids may assume that all children receive a ton of gifts around the holidays, when that simply isn’t the case. Volunteering will help teach your children that not all families are as fortunate as your own.

There are many ways your family can volunteer during the holidays whether it’s a soup kitchen, toy or clothing drive. Whatever the cause, the good feeling your children are likely to get from volunteering is a feeling that will hopefully follow them throughout their lifetime, so they too can pass it along to their children one day.