Make the Season Bright: Three Meaningful Ways to Engage Your Children This Holiday Season

By: Nicole Jackson Leslie, JD

The holiday season is full of opportunities to teach generosity, financial responsibility, and family connection. Here are 3 practical ideas.

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.

***

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.

Explore additional insights and perspectives to help you navigate the complexities of wealth.

Beyond Estate Planning: Purpose, Planning, and Partnership

Three Financial Lessons from Belle Burden’s Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage

Annual Financial and Estate Planning Checklist

Inside California’s Proposed 5% Billionaire Wealth Tax

From Snow to Sunshine: Navigating a Successful Move to Florida

IMPORTANT DISCLOSURES

The views expressed in this document, and the description of data supporting these views, are those of SCS Financial Services (together with its affiliates, “SCS”). The materials contained herein do not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security. Any such offering or solicitation can be made only by means of delivery of a definitive Confidential Private Placement Memorandum (“Offering Memorandum”) which sets forth in detail the terms and conditions of the offering and the applicable risk factors and should be reviewed in its entirety prior to investing. Securities may not be offered, sold or delivered to any prospective investor who does not satisfy certain minimum financial and sophistication criteria, or in any jurisdiction in which such offer is not authorized. SCS does not provide tax, accounting or legal advice and prospective investors should consult their professional advisers as to the tax or legal consequences of any potential investment.

The information in this document is as of the date indicated and is subject to change without notice. In preparing this document, SCS has relied upon certain information provided by third parties without independent verification of the accuracy or completeness of such information and SCS accepts no liability for any direct or consequential losses arising from its use.

Forward Looking Statements
Certain statements contained in this document may be forward-looking statements. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements that reference past trends or activities should not be taken as a representation that such trends or activities will necessarily continue in the future. Any economic or market forecast presented herein reflects the judgment of SCS as of the date of this material and is subject to change.

Risks
All investments risk loss of capital and there is no guarantee that an investment will achieve its investment objective. Private Fund investments in particular involve significant risks and are intended for experienced and sophisticated investors. Some of the risks associated with an investment in Private Funds include: (i) use of leverage or other speculative investment practices, (ii) illiquidity of investments including restrictions on transfers, (iii) potential multiple layers of fees and expenses, and (iv) lack of comprehensive regulatory regime. For a complete description of the risks associated with such investments please review the “Risk Factors” and “Conflicts of Interest” sections in the relevant Offering Memorandum.

Performance and Fees
Performance for the most recent time period presented may be based on estimated returns and is subject to change. Performance of individually managed accounts will vary based on constraints, timing, funding levels and other factors and may be lower or higher than any performance shown herein. Past performance is not a guide to future results.