Make the Season Bright: Three Meaningful Ways to Engage Your Children This Holiday Season
The holidays are a time for joy, gratitude, and connection. They also present a wonderful opportunity to involve your children in activities that nurture generosity, financial awareness, and family traditions and values. Here are three practical and heartfelt ways to make the season meaningful for your family.
1. Make a Gift Together
The spirit of giving is at the heart of the holidays. Instead of simply writing a check, invite your child to explore how giving can take many forms through the four Ts: time, talent, treasure, and ties.
- Time: Volunteer as a family at a local food pantry, assemble care packages for shelters or join a holiday gift and wrapping drive at your community center.
- Talent: Leverage your creativity to organize a bake or craft sale with your child and donate the proceeds to a cause they care about.
- Treasure: Make a monetary donation together. Let your child help choose the charity and discuss why it matters to your family. If your child receives an allowance, ask them if they would like to contribute a portion to the donation.
- Ties: Bring your friends, family, and community together to host a food, clothing, or toy drive in partnership with a local organization.
These experiences can teach your children that generosity is not just about money, it is about sharing what you have in meaningful ways.
2. Set a Holiday Budget
Children learn best by observing others. Include them in your holiday budgeting process for a hands-on course on responsible and thoughtful spending.
Pick a portion of your gift list and walk your child through how much you plan to spend and how you will stick to that limit. Shop together, track spending, and discuss trade-offs, like choosing multiple smaller gifts over one big item or opting for a homemade gift. These conversations help children understand needs versus wants and make thoughtful decisions with their own money later.
For younger children, use cash so they can see how much is spent and what remains (bonus: math practice!). For older children, use this as an opportunity to introduce the responsible use of credit cards.
If your children have their own shopping list, they can practice these habits with their own money or a gift allowance from you. Once their shopping is complete, reflect upon how they made choices and how they might use a budget during other times of the year.
3. Share Family Stories
Storytelling is a powerful way to pass down values, strengthen identity, and build resilience.
The holidays bring families together and present many opportunities to share traditions and memories. Use this time to talk about where your family traditions began, why they matter, and how they have changed over the years. Include your children in your traditions, such as cooking a family recipe or singing songs together. Ask them which traditions they enjoy the most and whether they would like to start new ones.
Encourage older relatives to share their holiday memories and incorporate photos or family heirlooms. Have your children interview grandparents or other family members and consider recording these stories to preserve your family history for years to come.
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The holiday season is full of opportunities to teach generosity, financial responsibility, and family connection. Whether you are giving back, budgeting together, or sharing stories, these moments create lasting memories and help your children understand what truly makes the season special.
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