Mom it Forward » Neighbors http://momitforward.com Fri, 25 May 2012 13:27:43 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 Help and Support: 8 Ways to Engage Your Family in Community Service http://momitforward.com/help-and-support-8-ways-to-engage-your-family-in-community-service http://momitforward.com/help-and-support-8-ways-to-engage-your-family-in-community-service#comments Tue, 20 Sep 2011 17:00:18 +0000 Jill Greenlaw http://momitforward.com/?p=29081 Teaching our children about service has always been really important to my husband and me. When we take a meal to a friend, help a neighbor move, or visit a nearby rest home, we take our children with us. We …

]]> Teaching our children about service has always been really important to my husband and me. When we take a meal to a friend, help a neighbor move, or visit a nearby rest home, we take our children with us. We feel that the more our children learn to serve others, the less likely they will focus on their own wants and needs. We like to call it “losing yourself in service.”

When our community organized a family service project to help clean up yards in our neighborhood, we jumped at the opportunity to help. For 3 1/2 hours we joined over 15 families trimming trees and bushes, cleaning out rain gutters, and power washing windows and awnings. We even swept sidewalks and dumped garbage. The time flew by as we worked side-by-side, lending help and support to those in need.

8 Ways To Get Your Kids Involved in Community Service:

The following are eight ways you can serve your local community as a family:

  1. Serve food at a homeless shelter.
  2. Be a secret Santa at Christmas for a less fortunate family.
  3. Sweep walks or shovel snow for an elderly person.
  4. Share vegetables from garden with someone in need.
  5. Take family to a rest home and share talents with residents.
  6. Lead a food drive to help collect items for the Red Cross.
  7. Put together hygiene kits for a local woman’s shelter.
  8. Take a meal to a family that is going through a hard time.

Serving with my children brings me a lot of  joy. I am thankful for the opportunities I have had to serve others and hope that my children will make service a priority in their lives.

What are you doing to teach your children about community service? What can you do in your community to make a difference?

]]> http://momitforward.com/help-and-support-8-ways-to-engage-your-family-in-community-service/feed 0 Mom It Forward This Halloween by BOOing! http://momitforward.com/halloween-booing-instructions http://momitforward.com/halloween-booing-instructions#comments Tue, 27 Oct 2009 01:34:40 +0000 Jyl Johnson Pattee http://momitforward.com/?p=2829 Check out these great Halloween boo-ing ideas from fellow blogger and friend, Cindy Hopper from Skip to My Lou. She shares how it’s not to late to Mom It Forward Halloween style to your neighbors, family, and friends! What’s …

]]> Check out these great Halloween boo-ing ideas from fellow blogger and friend, Cindy Hopper from Skip to My Lou. She shares how it’s not to late to Mom It Forward Halloween style to your neighbors, family, and friends! What’s more is this is a perfect family activity! In her own words: “It is all about the ding & dash.”

Gather some treats, download and print this special Ghost Door Hanger and you are ready to go. One side lets everyone know you have been booed, the other a fun poem and instructions about how to BOO!

BooingDoorHanger7

You might also like this unique way to BOO with a decorated plastic pumpkin. “Am I a Cat or Jack Boo Pumpkin” makes a great way to BOO your friends.

booing-am-i-a-jack-or-a-cat-2

Another idea is to make a special BOO! Cone .

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If you are into paper crafts a BOO! Sign is a wonderful way to share some Halloween fun!

boo-sign-on-door

Let the “BOOING” begin!

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