Holidays

50+ Kids' Gift Ideas with Kindness at Their Core

50+ Kids' Gift Ideas with Kindness at Their Core

50+ kids’ gift ideas with kindness at their core! Gift giving opportunities pop up throughout the year, from annual holiday, birthday, and anniversary celebrations, to one-time milestone moments like graduations, major accomplishments, or just because. With the overabundance of consumerism in our culture, it’s natural for parents who care about the world to want to be mindful of what they're purchasing, not wanting junk to accumulate in their homes. That’s why we assembled this tried-and-true gift guide of favorite presents with kindness at their core. You’ll find special projects and tools that keep kids busy, encourage reflection, and encourage conversations; activities, items, and games that help them explore and understand the world around them; apparel that supports good causes, and more.

Loving Hearts, Loving Kindness: Exploring 4 Lesser-Known Types of Love for Children and Families

Loving Hearts, Loving Kindness: Exploring 4 Lesser-Known Types of Love for Children and Families

Valentine’s Day often stirs strong feelings, often over-celebrated with material gestures. Our guest contributor shares how her view of the holiday was shifted by a homemade card, revealing the day's deeper potential. Learn how teaching young children about varied forms of love can foster empathy and enrich lives.

How to Have a Season of Presence

How to Have a Season of Presence

As the month turns, many of us find ourselves entering a time of year that is busy, busy, busy–with both regular daily and seasonal activities filling our calendars. Family pursuits such as athletics, the arts, and other skill-building pastimes intermingle with daily rituals of school, work, and keeping a household running smoothly. There are also many holidays observed around the world in the coming months and families add rituals surrounding these days to their already-full dockets. We get busier with the preparation of special meals shared with family and friends, the selection and giving of gifts, the travel plans that require time, and financial resources to bring families together. As a parent, I often find this season to be, well, A LOT. Here are some ideas for families looking to stay connected to presence/mindfulness in the busy months ahead.

Trick-or-Treat with UNICEF!

Our UNICEF boxes arrived this week! Has your family done this project? Do you plan to? We attempted it a few years ago, without much enthusiasm from the kids. But they are older and wiser now, so we're giving it another chance.

Check out the complete Big-Hearted Families guide to making this activity meaningful for your whole family.

Also, in case you missed it, don't forget to check out our 5 Big-Hearted Halloween book recommendations.