Giving to Others This Christmas

I know it's a little early to start talking about Christmas but I just finished a post on my other blog and I thought it could apply in a classroom setting as well.

The last couple of years that I had a classroom of my own I've always asked my students what they want to do for Christmas and they have always decided to pull names and buy a present for one of their classmates.  It has always worked with great success!  I feel like I've been pretty lucky to work in an area where students needs are being provided for them... but this isn't always the case.

John and I filled two reusable containers instead of shoeboxes

I wrote about Operation Christmas Child on my other blog and I think it could apply here too.  To get your students to think about others on a global scale why not try to see how many shoe boxes your classroom could fill?  You may not even have to have any specific requirements... just to have them bring in what they can (letting them know the guidelines set out by Samartine's Purse of course).  Shoe boxes are likely due back before December even starts... so you could do this and talk about others around the world and then on the last day of school have your own Christmas party where you exchange gifts with each other.

Later on in December, your class could also do a hamper for a needy family in the city/town that you work in... we have a Cheer Board where I live that a class could likely easily put a hamper together for.

This is everything we manages to fit inside... we filled
them for boys in the 10-14 age category.

Christmas shouldn't just be a time about giving to your friends and family... or getting from your friends and family... it should be about spreading cheer to EVERYONE!

AND... you could also learn about some of the places the boxes go to... I know that where I live in the grade 4 social studies curriculum they are to learn about 2 different places in the world.  Maybe this could be how you pick those 2 places?

Anyways, like I said at the beginning I wrote about this on my other blog Confessions of a Modern Day Mennonite (if you want more information).