6 Ways to Get your Kids to Willingly Donate their Toys

get-your-kids-to-donate-their-toys

Christmas day has come and gone and no doubt your house looks like a bomb has hit it with all the additional toys that have somehow managed to creep into your house and if you’re like most families your kids probably have way too many toys. The answer is to get your kids to donate toys, willingly, which might be a bit hard but we’ll show you how to get them on board.

 

  1. Make it a Family Tradition

When your kids are old enough you should try and make giving toys away to those less fortunate a family tradition that you do each year after Christmas. In this way your kids always know what to expect after Christmas. It’s the perfect time to get rid of toys that they’ve outgrown or even toys that they don’t play with anymore. See if there is a local children’s home somewhere that you can go to and drop off a collection of unwanted toys.

Even preschoolers are old enough to learn about generosity, compassion, and the importance of helping others. Donating their old toys is a great way to begin that lesson.

 

  1. Get this Book

There’s a book by David Shannon called Too Many Toys and this is a great way to introduce your kids to the idea of having too many toys and what they can do with them. You can order it on Amazon or see if your local library has it. It’s a great book and the kids will love it and it has that awesome little hint in there to get them giving willingly.

 

  1. Introduce the idea

You should always try and introduce the idea of giving to those less fortunate by talking about how a lot of children don’t get any toys at all for Christmas and how lucky they are to get so many toys. Pick a particular toy that you know they don’t play with and ask them how they think another child will feel having that toy. This can start off the conversation in a great way.

 

  1. Get their Input

Don’t go making decisions about which toys to choose without them. Get them involved and get their input on which toys they would like to see donated. If they’re struggling to think of any toys to get rid of then give a gentle nudge on which toys you think could be great for other kids less fortunate.

 

  1. Set a Goal

Try and make a bit of a game out of it. Set them a goal of every two toys that they keep they should give away one. If that’s too much, then change the goal so that they feel like they have a bit of control.

 

  1. Reward them

When they actually choose toys to give away, reward them for their efforts and praise them – a little ice cream treat would probably go down well too!

 

Those are our top ideas, do you have any others to share?

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