Acts of Charity… for Toddlers

Texas Mommy just posted this in a comment, and it’s something I’ve been thinking about lately as well, so I’m taking the liberty to initiate a full post on the topic… what do you do to get very young children involved in acts of charity in the community?

We don’t have much extra stuff right now because of our limited living space, so we don’t donate much. This is horrible, but I was deterred from nursing home visits by constant inquiries from a former pediatrician about whether my baby had been in contact with elderly in nursing homes, because apparently tuberculosis is widespread in nursing homes? Is this a serious problem? And anything that requires my children to focus and do something like sort cans seems to require more effort than it’s worth. So while “acts of charity” is on our list as one of several morning activity options, our most frequent acts of charity are offering to watch a friend’s children or cooking/baking for someone who needs help or cheer. This counts, and 3-year-old Bella definitely understands the value of it, and maybe it’s all a mom can really hope to accomplish with young kids… but if anyone has other suggestions, please fire away!