5 Ideas To Help Kids Give Back with Toms

This post is sponsored by TOMS and contains affiliate links.

I am so excited to partner with TOMS today for a post with 5 ideas to help kids give back.  I have diverged from more “mommy” blog topics but in my day-to-day the mom job is what consumes most of my time.  Like most moms I put a huge amount of pressure on myself to raise up fabulous humans who are healthy, kind, and cool.  The toddler psyche is a tough one, and giving doesn’t always come easy for them.   So here are a couple easy ideas to help kids give back that you can implement TODAY (or tomorrow, or next week) to make their hearts glow a little brighter.

Of all the brands known for their charity I think TOMS leads the list.   Their “one for one” motto lets you give a pair of shoes to someone in need with each purchase.  If you follow me on Instagram you know Tuesdays I try to showcase brands or people that are doing something good as part of my #GIVINGTUESDAY series.  I love to support brands that are using my money to put some good back into this world and TOMS, as a brand, leads this movement.

Cam’s Tiny Toms,  Mac’s Youth Toms

There are so many ideas to help kids to give back, but if yours are anything like mine they need a little push in the tush to get the ball rolling.   Once they start giving they are so excited by the reactions that they want to keep the momentum going.

So here are some simple ideas to help kids give back in their own neighborhood or community:

Help A Neighbor with Yard Work

Be it an elderly neighbor or a family with busy work schedules, everyone is appreciative of help with yard work.   Since my kids are young I asked them to help collect sticks around the yard of a neighbor so the mower wouldn’t clog.  Raking, bagging leaves, shoveling snow, there are lots of ways kids can help around the yard.

Draw Pictures for Nursing Home Patients

My mom lives in an “adult community” that happens to have a building for elderly folks who need full care.   I had my kids draw pictures to bring to these elderly residents who might not get a lot of visitors of surprises.

Mail Care Packages to Troops Overseas

My husband’s bestie is currently deployed for 6 months in the Middle East.   We gathered snacks and some workout goodies to ship over to the guys and gals who left their families to be overseas with him.

Hide Gifts Around a Playground With A Note Asking the Recipient To Pay it Forward

While more like random acts of kindness, this was my kids’ favorite activity.  We packaged up several gifts from the dollar bin (bubbles, chalk, slime, etc) and left a note saying “By accepting this gift, you agree to pay forward an act of kindness”.  Anonymous gifting falls on deaf ears with my kids so we got the playground super early to hide these.

Why so serious??

Raise Money For An Animal Shelter

My kids did chores for me and their Grandma and raised money that we donated to a local farm that serves as a park in our town.   The money is used for the upkeep of the facility (which is an amazing spot for kids) and care of the animals.   I took these at another farm we were visiting when Camdon, my younger son, was wearing the natural burlap tiny biminis which run true to size and Macson was wearing the same burlap bimini in the youth sizing which I felt ran a size big.

Some other quick ideas to give back could include:

• rounding up old toys to donate
• helping out at a soup kitchen
• walking the dog of a neighbor with a long work day
• hosting a charity lemonade stand or bake sale

Since this post was about KIDS I somehow escaped sharing my awkward poses through most of this post!   But I love TOMS shoes too so you won’t miss out!   I have two pairs of TOMS sandals I wear all the time when I am bopping around town with these two boys above.   We live in a highly pedestrian area (think walking distance to Whole Foods) so wearing comfortable sandals like these chambray cork wedges and these suede platform wedges makes all the difference in how my feet feel at the end of the day.   You can see pictures below.

TOMS Women’s Toffee Flatform Sandal

TOMS Chambray Cork Flatform Sandal