March 10, 2018

Quote of the Week

"It's never too early to involve your kids in giving back. And the more hands-on the experiences are, the better." - Soleil Moon Frye

How To Help Kids Learn To Love Giving

In this week's feature, Jason Marsh, long-time friend of ServiceSpace and founding editor of Greater Good, shares a treasure trove of insights on nurturing generosity in children through conversations with his then 7-year-old daughter.  In his explorations, he uncovered five science-based strategies to understand the nuances of the nature of giving, which comes from an intrinsically motivated space. He beautifully illustrates simple ways that helped him to make this a subtle and effortless process for his own child, in the spirit of sharing his learnings with other parents who may be holding similar questions and experiences.

"I know from my years working at the Greater Good Science Center that the key lies in nurturing her inner motivation for generosity—it has to be something she wants to do herself, not sees as a chore imposed on her by an outside force (like an anxious parent). Giving, in other words, has to feel good."

So how can we support our children in ways that enable them to tap into the fundamental generosity in their own hearts and launch a “positive cycle” of happiness and generosity?" [read more]

Reading Corner

Title: Maddi's Fridge
By: Lois Brandt
Ages: 3-8

"This book tells a very sweet story of a friendship between two little girls, one whose fridge at home is filled with fresh, healthy foods and another whose fridge is empty.  Generosity unfolds naturally as Sofia goes to Maddi's house during a play date and discovers that her friend has very little to eat.  To keep her promise to Maddi about not telling anyone about her empty fridge, Sofia sneaks food from home to share with her friend each day, while Maddi helps her in different ways as well.   It's so beautiful to see how the girls are genuinely moved by love when it comes to helping each other in the ways they can, as their friendship grows. When I read this story to my 4 and 7-year-old daughters, they could really empathise with both girls and as we finished, they asked if we could read it again tomorrow. I love it when books like this awaken the innate generosity in the hearts of children and inspire them to find joy in giving." -- Trishna Shah

Be the Change

Take some inspiration from this week's article and try out one or two of these simple ways to experiment with your kids around the joy of giving.