How to Encourage Generosity in Your Child

An easy way to emphasize opportunities to be generous without making your little one feel bad for neglecting to realize it themselves is by making a point to praise others when they are thoughtful and charitable toward others. By spreading positive feedback and highlighting their peers' desirable actions, you can open up your child's mind to helping out in situations when it might not have even occurred to them before.

There are age-appropriate ways to start teaching generosity to every age group. Instead of assuming your child is too young, realize that it's always important to focus on kindness and how their actions impact others. This will help to raise people who not only value considerate treatment, but also demonstrate it.

Don’t make giving to others feel like a chore or a difficult task to accomplish. Instead, in each kind act they do, focus on how good they feel after and how easy it is to make someone else smile.

Establish an open dialogue with your child from an early age. The sooner they understand not only how someone else is feeling, but also the power that their words and actions have in making that person feel better or worse, the sooner they will feel more empowered to go out of their way to help whenever possible.

Not only will having firsthand experience in earning their own money help keep your child from taking it for granted when somebody is generous with them, but it also allows them to see that it's always possible to make more money. This encourages them to be generous with what they have and appreciate what they are given by others.

By participating in charitable events and random acts of kindness as a family, you not only show your little one the joy that can come from sharing and helping, but also that this value applies to everyone and not just the smallest members of the family.

Parents know that children pick up on their traits and words even when they don't intend it. Kids demonstrate these characteristics both in front of adults and when they aren't around. By being an unrelenting example of how people should treat others in every situation, your actions will become second nature so your child can follow your lead even when you aren't there.

Even if you're generous at work or donate to charity, it's up to moms and dads to model these desired behaviors at all times and not just when they think their kiddo is paying attention. Children pick up on way more than what many parents realize, and by making it a priority to be generous whenever the opportunity arises (and not just when it's a grand show to put on for your child), you teach your kid that these gestures should be the standard and not just the special exception.

Kids need to expand their worldview before they can begin to understand the potential of their actions and the grand impact it can have on others. Remove them for their own little bubble and volunteer with them, so they not only learn gratitude for what they have, but can also develop a passion to help those who are less fortunate while understanding the scope of their needs.