Simple Way to Teach Kids to Give Back

Each year the sound of the bell ringing by the red kettle at the grocery store brings back childhood memories.  Each year my mom would give me a bit of change to drop into the Salvation Army kettle.

As we enter the holiday season it’s important to remember it isn’t just about family and kids circling toys in the store ads, it’s also a time to give back.

You can easily use leftover Halloween candy to teach kids to give back to the community.

It’s a super simple after Halloween activity that will leave you smiling.

It all started with two very full buckets of Halloween candy.

There is no way we could ever eat it all.  Rather than letting it go to waste, we found a positive use for it.

Teaching Kids to Give Back

This year when the kids sort through the candy stash,  put some aside to make thank you bags for the local police and fire department.

It’s so simple!

• Fill sandwich bags with 8-10 pieces of candy.  We tried to include a variety:  several different mini candy bars, Twizzlers, and a lollipop.
• Add a short note to personalize it.

Use the filled bags to give back to local police and firemen.

You can drop them off to a local fire or police department.

This is also a great chance to show your kids that those men and women in uniform aren’t scary!

If you have a local military base near you, you could also keep some bags in the car to distribute to soldiers you may see when out doing errands.  We’ve given bags to members of our local Air Force National Guard unit that we’ve seen when out to lunch.

This year my kids will get a chance to toss a bit of spare change into that red kettle at the grocery store.

They’ll also get a chance to thank our local heroes for keeping us safe each day with this simple way to give back with left over Halloween candy.

You may also like:

• Teaching Kindness with the Elf
• 14 Days of Love Notes 
• Candy Cane Hunt (Our most popular post!)

Originally published on November 23, 2015.