Unless you’re a child development specialist, raising children is not always intuitive. And even the experts experience situations with their own kids that leave them wondering if they handled things the right way. For many of us, teaching our kids about giving is no different. Where to begin? How do you instill generosity into their developing spirits and make philanthropy a part of their value system? Research indicates that actively engaging your children about how and why we should give yields more generous, empathetic children, but how do we start the conversation and maintain it, keeping it fresh, interesting and relevant?

Unless you’re a child development specialist, raising children is not always intuitive. And even the experts experience situations with their own kids that leave them wondering if they handled things the right way. For many of us, teaching our kids about giving is no different. Where to begin? How do you instill generosity into their developing spirits and make philanthropy a part of their value system? Research indicates that actively engaging your children about how and why we should give yields more generous, empathetic children, but how do we start the conversation and maintain it, keeping it fresh, interesting and relevant?

To support you in your efforts, we developed the Talk About Giving Game – a fun way to encourage conversation about philanthropy. Comprised of conversation cards designed to instigate discussion, the game is divided into four topical categories that will help you and your children explore the act of giving: Giving Matters, Money Matters, Family Matters, and What Matters to Me. By playing the game together, you and your children will have the opportunity to consider your family and its legacy of giving, the various ways we can help others, the needs of our community and why it’s special, and the importance of money and value of a dollar.

It’s easy to play! Keep the game in the car and pull a card for discussion while running errands or on a car trip. Make a tradition to play each Sunday night at dinner and use a different card each week. When your extended family is together, include grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins in the conversation to increase the different perspectives.

You’re children will be inspired by the knowledge and values you have to share and you will have the opportunity to assist them in developing an understanding about the world around them and their ability to make a difference.

How do you get the game? Three options:

1. You can play online. We update the Question of the Week every Thursday on the Talk About Giving website.
2. You can purchase the game at our website for $7.99 (+$5.00 shipping/handling).
3. If you live in the Midlands and would like to avoid shipping charges, you can purchase games at Central Carolina Community Foundation. Contact Kristin Williamson for more details – [email protected] or 803.254.5601 x328.

Have fun and let us know how the conversation goes. We look forward to your feedback!