Operation Christmas Child 2012 Edition

Packing Operation Christmas Child Shoeboxes is a tradition in our house and the kids absolutely love it!  Our kids know that this is likely not only the only Christmas gift these kids will get, but could be the very first gift of any kind that they've ever received.  If you've never seen some of the YouTube videos showing the reactions of these kids, you need to check it out. (Here's one).  Getting to go along on a trip where they hand out those boxes would be an amazing experience, don't you think?  I think that one's going on my bucket list.

Each of our kids packed a shoebox for a child their age/gender. 

Here's some of the things (that I remember!) that we packed in our girls boxes - facecloth, box of soap, toothbrush, toothpaste, comb, pencils, pens, pencil crayons, fun erasers, notebook, bracelets, hair ties and clips, sunglasses, blurp, hard candy and a stuffed animal.

The boy box included all the gender neutral stuff from the girl boxes, and then instead of the girlie things we added little toy animals, a Hot Wheels car, a monster truck and some more stuff that I can't remember right now!

Each of our kids made a card for the box recipient to receive along with their gifts.  Unfortunately, this year I've been slacking on getting our family Christmas photo card done so we couldn't put that in this time.

Yup, a good time was had by all!

Operation Christmas Child 2011 edition

I realize this is super late. but I'm posting it anyway - it's my blog! :)

Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes are a tradition around our house.  The kids love it!  This year the boxes came blank to they could decorate them too.  Here they are working on their boxes.

They each made a card for the box recipient, and we included our family Christmas photo/card.

 Here's a sample of what we put in the girls boxes - school supplies such as pencil crayons, scissors, pencil sharpeners, and pens; hygiene supplies such as facecloth, toothbrush, soap; fun stuff like stuffed animal, bouncy balls, fancy hair ties.

 A good time was had by all!

Operation Christmas Child - pack it!

Operation Christmas Child - one of my favourite Christmas traditions to get us started in the true spirit of Christmas: celebrating the greatest gift of all, Baby Jesus born as God's gift of love to us. Operation Christmas Child gives us a chance to spread His love to those who may never have heard of God, and who may never have a received a gift of any kind.

The girls absolutely love packing the shoeboxes. We picked up the school supplies when they were on sale during a trip to the States in summer, and then Olivia and Jacob went with me to shop for the toiletries and fun stuff just the other day. One slight problem with that plan - when we bought school supplies in summer, I bought enough for all 4 kids. When I bought the stuff now, I thought we had only bought for 3 kids. So, we had enough for 3 1/2 boxes - I just brought the 1/2 box to church and let them finish it off during their packing project. (The Gr 5/6 girls and the Gr 5/6 boys packed well over 100 boxes!!).

This is the list of what we packed in our boxes....
box of pencil crayons with sharpener
pencils
two pens
box of crayons
notepad
two animal shaped erasers
first aid kit
bar of soap
washcloth
toothbrush
headband
two hair ties
stuffed animal
bouncy ball
mini tamborine

We also got the girls to make a card for the girl who would receive the gift box.

It's not too late to pack your own shoebox!! Collection week is Nov 15 - 20th.

If you prefer the virtual world - you can pack your shoebox online too! Just click on this link and you will be taken to Samaritan's Purse's secure website where you can order a shoebox custom built as per your specifications all from the comfort of your own home! You can select the age and gender of the recipient of your box and it will let you know what's all automatically included for $37 (which includes the $7 shipping fee). Here is what's included in the Girls box for Age 5-9....
1 Notebook
5 Pencils
1 Pencil sharpener
1 Eraser
2 Pens
1 Pack of pencil crayons
1 Toothbrush
1 Pair of Socks
1 Activity Book
1 Comb
1 Bar of soap
1 Wash cloth
1 Cup
1 Painting kit
1 Pack of Stickers
1 Ball
Assorted hair accessories
Assorted hard candy

You will then have the option to pick two more items for an extra cost - you can pick between shirts ($5), sunglasses for $4 (great idea - have to remember that one for next year!), hairbrush ($2), calculator ($2) or stuffed animal ($3).

You can then write a note to the child and even upload a photo to include as well!

This is a bit more expensive then doing it yourself but it's a very cool option for those who prefer to shop online, or who are simply to busy to go out and buy the supplies. Simply put - you have no excuse not to do it! ;)

If you're looking for a new tradition to start with your kids this Christmas - this is it!

Advent/Christmas traditions

What are your favourite Christmas traditions? Either ones that your family did when you were little, or ones you have started (or continued!) doing with your own children.

As I previously posted, one of my favourites is participating in Operation Christmas Child. Unfortunately it's seems so far away from Christmas so it hardly feels like a Christmas tradition.

We always attend our church's Christmas Eve service done by our choir. Often the children sing in it as well. We also normally go out for supper afterwards, and it often takes a few phone calls to find a restaurant open Christmas Eve!

We try to drive around one evening in December just to go look at Christmas lights.

But, I'd like some more ideas.

My friend Chelsea is going to be posting her ideas of celebrating Advent with littles - you can check that out Part 1 here. I'm definitely going to be rounding up all our Christmas books!

I also found a blog dedicated to Christmas Traditions so I'm going to have to review that a bit.

One thing I'd like us to try doing this year - there is a church that sets up a live nativity "play" that you walk through. I've heard really good things about it, so maybe we'll try that this year.

If you have any ideas to share, please let me know! I'm especially looking for new ways to focus the kids towards the real meaning of Christmas (celebrating the birth of our Saviour Jesus Christ), and away from the secular meaning of Christmas (presents, presents, and more presents).

Operation Christmas Child!

I love the ministry of Operation Christmas Child.

Filling shoeboxes with gifts for children living in desparate situations - what a great way to get into the Christmas spirit!

Though it still feels like Christmas is a long way off, this is definitely one of my favourite family traditions.

Our church generally donates the Sunday School offering from Sept - Nov to Operation Christmas Child as well, so our kids are well familiar with this project!

Each year we pack one shoebox per child (Jacob isn't quite old enough to understand this, we'll do one for him starting next year).

I already purchased a bunch of school supplies to put in the boxes when we shopped for school in the States - such good deals!

Today I took all 4 kids (yes, another day off school - craziness!) to Dollarama to pick up the last of the items. It definitely would've been easier for me to pick them up when I was at Dollarama on Tuesday with just 2 kids, but I wanted the girls to be able to pick out the stuff themselves - they're much more invested in it that way, and they love doing it!

We pack for kids the "same" as our kids - so we have boxes for 3 girls ages 4, 6, 8. They all got virtually the same items. After I assembled the boxes (which I picked up from our church - very handy that they're doing the same project), each girl got to pack their own box. I had to help rearrange them so everything would fit - those stuffed animals can create some problems! LOL

Here's what we packed in each box....

markers
crayons
pencil crayons
paint set
pencils
pencil sharpener
erasers
writing booklet with cute butterflies on the cover
bag of marbles
small bouncy ball
stuffed animal or animal puppet (depending on what our girls picked)
hair ties
toothbrush
a homemade Christmas card from the girls

I think that's it - a lot of practical stuff, and a few fun things thrown in too. Hopefully they'll enjoy them! I know we had a blast putting it together.