Your guide to activities and fun things to do with your preschoolers, toddlers and kids in Pittsburgh, PA

Lessons in giving can start at the earliest age.  While you won't have great luck taking your youngest preschoolers to most volunteer activities, let them help you pick some toys to donate to Toys for Tots or another similar charity.  They are the experts on toys, after all!  Or let them choose some warm, cozy hats and gloves to donate to one of our area's homeless shelters or soup kitchens, where those items can be distributed.   

If you have an older preschooler and would like to donate some of your time during the holiday season, a great resource for activities in our area is Pittsburgh Cares.  This Web site is an exhaustive list of volunteer activities in and around Pittsburgh, including both long term and one day opportunities.  The site also contains an online donation center with wish lists from various organizations.  So, if you're not sure what you can provide to a particular charity, check their wish list for great ideas.

Another great thing we can teach our kids is the importance of financial gifts.  One neat tool for doing this is one of the new kids' banks with separate chambers for things like savings, donations, and spending.  The nice thing about these multi-chamber banks is that they help teach good financial practice from a young age.  While it is definitely nice to donate funds to a charitable organization, it is also important to teach kids about saving for a "rainy day."  Never too early for lessons like that.  

So, enjoy the giving nature of the season and get the kids involved, too.