How to Teach Philanthropy to Young Children

It is important to raise children to love, to give and help others. However, children do not always learn to do this naturally. That is why it is so valuable for them to understand the importance of giving and helping when they are young. This article will provide some insightful tips to help you to know how to teach philanthropy to young children.

Be An Example in Participating in Philanthropy

A very easy way to get your children acquainted with the idea of philanthropy is to be an example to your children by participating in philanthropy yourself. The reality is that children pay attention to the behaviours of their parents. When parents are giving toward others, their children are often prone to become giving individuals as well. Be an example of what behaviours you want out of your children.

Have a Discussion With Your Children About Philanthropy

If your children are not aware of the charities that you support, it would be a good idea to tell your children about them. It is always wise to tell them how you support these charities and the reason why you like to help them. Maybe you want to be humble and keep quiet about the charities that you support. While this is admirable, it is good to mention the charities that you support either financially or by volunteering to your children so they understand what philanthropy is and how they can participate.

It is very beneficial to talk to children about the importance of giving to others. It is not enough that the children simply know about the charities that you support. When you have meaningful discussions with your children, this is a solid way to teach them about the importance of philanthropy and they will more likely want to become involved in giving to others.

Use a Model That is Easy for Your Children to Understand in Regard To Philanthropy

A terrific simple model that children can easily understand when you want to teach them about philanthropy is the pie chart. This is a visual method that is truly effective to demonstrate to your children the way that your giving is divided up across various charities that you support. You may commence with presenting a pie chart for one hundred pounds. Each pound would indicate a percent. Then spread the pounds across the various charities that you support. You will divide the pie chart as you do this. You will then explain to the children something about each of the charities in the process, such as how much you donate to the charity and the reason why you decided to give the percentage that you do.

You may further wish to explain the differences of the various charities that you support, such as the type of work that they do, the people that they help, their local impact, their national impact or their global impact. You may talk about the different issues that the charities are dealing with in order to help people. You should ask the children what they think about these things. Their opinions matter and can help them to learn. Also, ask them what is really important or ask them if something is missing. Ask them how they would divide the money across the various organisations.

Get Your Children Participating in Philanthropy

A sure way to teach your children about philanthropy is to get the children actively participating in philanthropy. You can put aside some money in a jar that the children will be responsible for managing. You can let the children use the money to donate to a cause that they are interested in or a charity on a list that you create to help them to decide which charity to support.

Your children should be involved, as this helps them develop good habits. That means that when you are sending the money to the charity, the children should be present. The children may apply the stamp on the envelope, seal the envelope or click the send button online with you present. They will feel that they are part of the giving process and will want to become more giving people.

At The Learning Experience in East Finchley, we incorporate philanthropy into our curriculum, which helps build a strong community-driven foundation in young children’s lives. Click here to learn about how our centre helped raise funds for Make-A-Wish UK. Contact us today for more information about our TLE UK centres.

The Learning Experience – East Finchley Day Nursery and Preschool
250 East End Rd
London N2 8AU
020-8444-2638
https://thelearningexperience.co.uk/center/east-finchley/