Christmas makes kids wide-eyed, with thoughts of a ton of presents under the Christmas tree. Some kids even like to count their presents under the tree. This holiday season, teach your kids the true meaning of Christmas — giving to others.

Give to Others - One simple way to teach your children the value of giving is to have them donate to a local shelter. Have your children go through their toys and clothes. Make sure they give away one really nice thing that they don’t really need or play with. Place an emphasis on the fact that there are many children who have no home or parents.

Another way your children can learn about the gift of giving is to donate canned goods to a local food drive service. These services provide food to families in need. The holidays are often a difficult time for those in need. Take your children to the grocery store and have them choose a nice variety of canned foods to donate. If they can spend some of their own money to make a purchase, the impact will be even more meaningful to them.

One more way your children can learn a lesson in giving is to buy gifts for others. Choose a needy family in your church or community. If you don’t know of anyone in need, ask around. Officials at your city’s municipal building, or local pastors will be able to make recommendations to you.

When I was growing up there was a family at our church that my parents had a soft spot for. They were pretty poor and had a lot of needs. Even though we never had an overabundance of money, my parents somehow managed to provide gifts for this family every year.

My parents never let them know that the gifts were from us. They wanted to bless these people without gaining any personal credit for it, and without making the relationship awkward. We often dropped off the gifts in a large bag in the dark on Christmas eve. It became a lot of family fun to park our car down the road from their house, and having my dad run through the snow with this big bag, and then run back to the car as fast as he could.

We learned how to give from what we had, even if that wasn’t very much, and to give without expecting to get anything (even admiration) in return. Good lessons that have lasted and helped make me a better person.