Benefits and Fun of Generosity

Generosity and performing acts of kindness have been shown to have positive impacts on mental health. Some of these include reduced stress, improved mood, increased self-esteem, reduced loneliness, alleviated symptoms of depression and anxiety, improved immune system, and, and even lower blood pressure. Young children and adolescents can experience these same benefits from practicing generosity.

When children are young, their primary focus is making sure that their needs are met by the people around them. Early in their development, it is necessary for them to often be asking for what they need, such as when they are feeling hungry, thirsty, or scared.

But as kids mature, it also becomes necessary for them to look outside their own needs and begin being more responsive to the needs of others. Parents have the opportunity to play a big role in helping kids develop generosity, through teaching, encouragement and example.

While youth are often naturally generous and giving, they can sometimes lose sight of what it means to be grateful and generous, especially if they are busy or going through stressful times themselves, or even during the holidays. Parents may wonder why their kids aren’t as generous as they would like them to be.

There are activities and practices that parents can do to help their children experience the beneficial effects of being generous and giving or serving others. As they experience these benefits, they will naturally want to find more ways to express their generosity. They’ll also find that being generous can be a lot of fun!

Some simple ideas are: Share stories about people helping other people, make and deliver homemade cards and care packages, support local organizations that care for people or animals in need, help friends or neighbors with yardwork tasks, and join a community or church group service project.

Other Ways to Practice Generosity

• Share and rotate toys: Make it a family habit to share some toys and rotate them through siblings periodically.
• Write thank you notes to people who have been generous to them.
• Designate a giving or donation jar: As kids earn money, encourage them to put a portion into the jar to be donated to a good cause or to help someone in need.
• As a family, put together care packages or make meals for those going through difficult times, such as a death in the family, illness, or loss of job.
• Bake cookies for others: This could be a fun family activity. Eat some, then deliver the rest to someone else.
• Share generosity ideas: Each evening, ask family members to share an example of generosity that they experienced that day.
• Participate in local charity walks. These happen often in communities and are fun family activities.
• Read books about generosity. A quick Internet search can lead to books to use. Some examples:

1. “A Chair for my Mother” by Vera B. Williams
2. “Should I Share my Ice Cream?” by Mo Willems
3. “Thank You, Omu!” by Oge Mora
4. “The Invisible Boy” by Trudy Ludwig
5. “One Smile” by Cindy McKinley

• Donate clothing: As children grow out of clothing, take them with you to donate to local organizations that use the clothing to help others.
• Volunteer at a food bank or pantry.
• Model generosity often.

1. https://www.bgca.org/news-stories/2022/October/how-to-raise-generous-kids/ 2. https://childmind.org/article/tips-for-raising-generous-children/ 3. https://mentalhealthcenterkids.com/blogs/articles/generosity-activities-for-kids