The 5 Pillars of Giving ~ Join the Challenge
It is hard to believe that 2017 is just around the corner. However, that does not mean the "Season of Giving" is over. These past few weeks leading up to holidays has filled everyone with the spirit of love and generosity.
I'm excited to see how the numbers total up at the end of 2016. At the end of 2015, total giving to charitable organizations was $373.25 billion in 2015 (about 2.1% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (source: http://www.charitynavigator.org). For Giving Tuesday this year, $168 million was raised online for a total of 1.56 million gifts (www.givingtuesday.org). Incredible!!
JUST BECAUSE THE HOLIDAYS ARE OVER - DON'T STOP GIVING
But with the end of the holidays nearing, we often end up resuming our daily routine. Back to work, children will soon be back in school and our days will be busy running kids from activity to activity.
However, it doesn't mean we need to stop giving...
Instead of forgetting the spirit of giving, we should use these past few weeks as the platform to continue the giving spirit all year round. Especially with our children, they have been watching the generosity and compassion of their parents. They have been on the receiving end of gifts - the feeling of someone being kind and giving is fresh in their memory. Right now is the perfect time to continue the momentum created and build the foundation for a lifetime of giving.
the journey to giving
When I started Giving Artfully Kids, I had a handful projects for students to craft for other organizations. But it wasn't until we expanded our curriculum to the Early Childhood, we realized that we needed to add more structure to our program, giving students the stepping stones to what it means to give. We wanted the experience to more than just projects that students made for others, but also an understanding of the values and components of giving. That is how we developed the "Giving Pathway" for our students.
What do I mean by a "Giving Pathway"? It is a pathway, or a journey students will take in our course to help build the foundation for a lifetime of giving.
“5 Pillars of Giving ~ a journey for children to help build the foundation for a lifetime of giving.”
THE 5 PILLARS OF GIVING
After teaching numerous of classes and having a treasure chest full of craft-based service projects, we needed a way to categorize our projects and create a journey for our students. That is when we created the concept of the "5 Pillars of Giving". We found that our projects usually fell into five categories: helping someone, being compassionate, finding peace, being kind and being grateful.
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Not one pillar is more important, but all is vitally significant for children to learn about giving. We created our course based on the social issue and Pillar of Giving to give children a comprehensive experience. While enjoying crafting, they are also experiencing first-hand the foundation principles of giving.
INTRODUCING THE 5 PILLAR OF GIVING CHALLENGE!!
So to help you teach and instill these five values in your children, we created a 5-day challenge to help you build the foundation for a lifetime of giving. In this challenge, we will be sending you a short lesson and action steps to help guide your students and children in the Giving Artfully Kids' 5 Pillars of Giving.
It is our hope that your children will embrace this challenge as we strive to Build Generation of Kindness by teaching them the foundational principles of giving.
We also hope this experience will carry-on beyond this challenge and encourage you and continue acts of kindness and giving on a regular basis. Whether it's helping a family member out, helping someone cross the street, or a community-wide service project, every act, no matter how big or small, makes a difference.
JOIN the challenge
Joining the challenge is simple, just click on the button below and we will send a confirmation email. Then, for the next 5 days, look for an email from Giving Artfully Kids with a simple lesson on one of our five pillars.
We will also include a fun and meaningful project to do with your kids that will help show the meaning of that pillar. Just like in our classes, we believe that children will better grasp concepts when they are using their own hands to make something for others. As Ben Franklin wrote:
“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.”
Join us today and help us Build Generation Kindness - a generation of children who can't wait to give and make a difference.