Oh the weather outside is frightful....

Age:  over 2

Type:  donation

For Christmas my four year old got a pretend mailbox and several sets of blank envelopes.  She is constantly putting little scraps of paper inside, her 'letters', and leaving them all over the house for us.  Once she found out how to use the little flag on her mailbox indicating there was mail to be picked up, she started insisting we all leave letters for her as well.  The point of this being she has a minor mail obsession! 

So how to turn her love of mail into a act of kindness for someone else - why not a letter for our mail carrier!  Despite the calendar reading January, the temps here in Michigan feel more like spring, but on the next biter cold winter day we are prepared with some instant hand warmer packets in a letter for our mail carrier.  I have one little
mail girl eager to make a delivery!

Candy Candy Candy

Age:  any
Type:  donation

Just when I think my girls couldn't possibly collect more candy than they did the year before, they some how manage to do just that!  This years haul was so impressive my oldest actually was making "candy" angels on the floor in the middle of her stash!  No worries here about what to do with all that loot however, as once again we participated in an Operation Gratitude candy collection.  This is our third year participating in a candy collection where we donate our candy to be sent to our military personel serving oversees.  For more details or to find a participating collection location check it out here!

No Tricks Just Treats

Age:  Over 2
Type:  Baking/Donation

As part of our new holiday giving plan, a Halloween inspired service project was first on our list.  We decided to support the local Ronald McDonald house with a basket of goodies.  Our local Ronald McDonald house hosts 29 families at a time, most of whom have well children in addition to their hospitalized child.  For these siblings, Halloween this year will be very different, so we hoped to spread a little spooky fun with our trick or treat inspired gift basket.  Filled with pumpkin bread, suckers, craft supplies and coloring books, we had a blast assembling it and delivering it to some very appreciative families!

Super 6 Summer Service Project Ideas

With my first year as a mom of a school age child nearly under my belt, I am ready for summer vacation!  For the last month I have been madly 'pinning' summer activities, crafts, recipes and other fun things for my girls and I to do together.  As I was doing so, I realized that what was missing was a little hearts post on the subject!  While summer does provide some much needed respite and time to run through the sprinklers and lick melty popsicle off our fingers, it can also be a great time to engage in serving others.  So without further ado, I present the Super 6, a collection of summer-themed projects for you and your little one!

1 - Guest Groundskeeper
For many people summer is a time of family trips and vacations.  It is also a time when that summer heat can quickly undo all that hard work you spent planting in the spring.  Next time your neighbor goes on vacation, volunteer to water their flowers.  Tiny watering can in hand, watering flowers is my almost 2 years olds absolute favorite activity.  Sure the sidewalk, my shoes, the tires of the car may all get a little water as well, but eventually the job gets done!

2 - Fresh Fruit Baker
In Michigan summertime in synonymous with an abundance of fresh berries!  Raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries - we love them all.  My girls and I have already been out strawberry picking and almost 20 pounds later we were left wondering what we could possibly do with this haul!  The solution - jars of homemade jam for crossing guards, teachers, babysitters  - a thank you for those people who have made this school year great! 

3 - Lemonade Stand Owner
My six year old has already been hounding me about when she can have a lemonade stand again (this year will apparently be Rock Star themed :).  A classic activity that has jobs perfect for ages 2 and up and a great way to collect donations to a favorite cause.  Consider spending some time researching different organizations and charities that your little heart would like to donate to!  Another twist for the older ones could be holding a car wash!

4 - Thirst Quencher
I am not one to ever complain about the heat - the hotter the better as far as I am concerned.  We only get so many of these kind of days in Michigan!  Still, there are those days where the heat and humidity combine in one hot mess where the girls and I just want to curl up in the house in our AC.  Not everyone has the luxury of seeking out the cool air on these kind of days - garbage and recycling still need to be collected and mail still needs to be delivered.  So how about leaving out cool bottles of water with a little note of thanks for these service providers.  Sure to bring a smile and a little relief on a hot day!

5 - Garden Helper
My first post on the little hearts project was about an experience I had with my first daughter in our church garden and the impact that it had on us.  This summer I plan to enlist the help of all my girls as we head back into the garden.  No longer just something for rural areas, urban farms and gardens are popping up just about everywhere!  Many communities have their own gardens and need volunteer support to keep them going.  I have posted about it here and here previously.  Nothing says summer like fresh veggies and pulling a few weeds is the perfect project for little hands!

6 -  Mini-Parade Maker
A summertime service project list would not be complete without an art project for the little ones!  Who doesn't love a good Fourth of July Parade?  Unfortunately for children hospitalized during the July 4th holiday, attending a parade is not always possible.  So consider bringing the parade to them using these two super cute ideas from Family Fun to make July 4th Hats and Noise Makers.

I hope you have found this list helpful in getting you and your little heart inspired to serve others this summer!  Would love to hear about any of these projects that you - so please send along :)

Happy Summer!!!!

teddy bears and tornadoes - an unlikely pair

Age:  over 2
Type:  donation

Several weeks ago a local community near mine was hit by unexpected tornadoes.  Many homes and businesses were destroyed in an area unaccustomed to this type of devastation.  This story is not unlike many across the country, so I wanted to share an email that I received from another mother about what she and her little one did to help ease the pain for those involved in this tornado.  The author of the email, Maria, is a mother to two little girls and author of several books.

After the tornado devastated so many homes in Dexter, I was motivated to do something to help the families who were involved.  I got an email from a principal at one of the Elementary schools. She was collecting teddy bears to give to the children who lost their homes. I thought this was a great idea and was happy to help. I could even involve my 3 year old, Ruby, in this act of kindness. My daughter helped me pick out the teddy bears. When she asked me what they were for, I was afraid to tell her the real reason for fear that she would have a hard time with future thunderstorms. So, I simply said "They are for poor kids". Looking back, I am disappointed in myself for not taking the time to A. explain the REAL reason we were buying the bears or B. Tell her what it meant to be "poor". I made the assumption that she knew what it meant to be poor.

About five hours after dropping the toys off at the Principal's house, we were driving driving home from the zoo when Ruby asked me what "poor" meant. At first I had no clue what she was talking about! I told her that when a child was poor, this meant their family didn't have a lot of money. That maybe their parents didn't have jobs. They didn't have enough money to do fun things like go to the zoo. Oh boy, did this set off tears! Ruby was crying saying " My mama doesn't work! We are poor! We won't ever go to the zoo again!" We talked the entire way home about all of this. It's tough to really remember how young Ruby is when I am trying to explain grown up things to her. She's correct, I don't have a full time job right now. But she doesn't understand the nature of my work and that it brings in income.

Overall, I am happy to have included her in the experience of giving to others. I look forward to doing something like this again. We love to conduct random acts of kindness for our neighbors, UPS man and mail carrier! We are always baking something and giving it away. We also love making projects and sending them to family members. But we haven't stepped out of our comfort zone to help people out of our network and I want to commit to doing this more often.  I believe in the power of Paying It Forward. I believe in living as a kind and generous individual.

As Maria said, it is often easy to do nice things for people 'in our network', but considerably more difficult to help those whom we have never met.  As this project idea indicates however, it need not be!  The simple gift of a teddy bear from a stranger could have more of an impact on a child in a difficult situation than you will ever know.  Thanks for sharing Maria!

a special birthday post

Type:  donation
Age:  any

Getting the mail on your birthday is always fun - who doesn't love seeing brightly colored envelopes from friends and family!  As yesterday was my birthday (official age withheld :) I was the recipient of the birthday mail.  Imagine my surprise when I opened a card from my sister-in-law to find a certificate saying that a birthday gift bag in my honor had been given to Cheerful Givers.  Their mission is simple "To provide toy-filled birthday gift bags to food shelves and shelters so that parents living in poverty can give their child a birthday gift."  Whenever I get a personal gift that I know the giver really thought about what I would like it is so meaningful.   I can definitely say that the $10 donation to purchase one of these bags had far more value than the monetary cost of it!

For your little hearts next birthday consider checking this most special organization out! 

Calling all Book Lovers

Age: Any
Type:  Donation

So as an author myself of this book here, I am admittedly a little biased about reading.  I think, however, that as parents we can all agree of the importance of reading to our children.  While my house has shelves overflowing with books, not every child is so lucky.  With that in mind I wanted to give a heads up about Metro Parents Operation 25,000 books.  For those not familiar with Metro Parent, it is an awesome resource for Metro Detroit families.  They are celebrating their 25th anniversary this year and are attempting to donate 1,000 books for every year they have been around.  All books will go to the Detroit Parent Network.  For more information and to find out where to drop off your donation you can go here. 

Halloween's Over....Now What!

Age: 2 and up
Type: Donation

This year trick or treating took on a whole new meaning in our house with a 5.5 and almost 3 year old.  They happily ran (literally) up and down the streets of our neighborhood for HOURS!  To say it was fun was an understatement.  My husband and I chatted with friends and neighbors we ran into as we tried to keep up with our girls.  At the end of the night they both spread out all their candy and we took stock for a moment of an absolute pile of candy.  A huge, chocolaty, delicious pile of more candy then we would ever let them eat.  So now what to do?  Thankfully I found a great website which can be found here. 

Halloween Candy Buy Back has a super easy search which allows users to type in their zip code and find a participating dentist closest to you that will be collecting candy.  What do they do with all this loot you are probably wondering?  The candy will be used to fill care packages sent to the troops in the month of December through Operation Gratitude.  This year Operation Gratitude will be sending 60,000 care packages!  I called the office closest to us and they are collecting candy all week up to 10 pounds.  Haven't weighed ours yet, but I bet we are close to that!

So have your little hearts set aside a few favorite pieces and help you pack up the rest of those goodies.  Some amazing men and women far from home are sure to appreciate your sweet treat!

Back to School Cool

type: donation

age: over 2

Whew, I don't want to say I am a little behind in posting about this, but goodness! As I play catch up with the projects that have been going on in our household over the summer, I hope that you are inspired to get involved with your little hearts!

This year marked a large milestone in our family, as our oldest started kindergarten. Needless to say, back to school shopping took on a whole new meaning! Rather than just fulfill the list for her class though, we decide that this would be a perfect time to give back to others who might not be able to fill their backpacks with new supplies this school year. It turned out our church was collecting school supplies, so we donated there, but I saw many other opportunities through the community to donate. The above picture shows my girls scouring the shelves for 'sale' tags and picking out stuff for the kids. I must admit, these girls are shoppers, so they had a great time!

So when fall rolls around, consider stocking up on school supplies for not just your own little hearts, but those of others as well!

Pushing Pencils

Age: Over 2

Type: Collection/Donation

This Valentine's Day my girls were lucky enough to receive several small gifts from grandparents and family members. Included amongst the little trinkets were several glittery, shiny, hearty, pinky (you get the girly idea) pencils. While they did have instant appeal, I mean who doesn't love pretty little things, they were soon relegated to a box in our playroom of other unsharpened pencils.

When I sat down at my computer this morning I remembered an article that I had read awhile ago about donating pencils - so I thought I would look into it for our little hearts. Turns out the The Pencil Project was just what I was looking for! A small grass roots effort which matches up students in need of pencils with kids looking to donate. By contacting Maria the founder, you can get the information required to make any size donation. Sound good to you? I think it would make the perfect project for a preschool class, Daisy troop or Sunday school class. As always, would love to hear if you decide to try out this idea and I will feature your success story here! Thanks for reading!

Celebrate by Giving Back

Type: donation

Age: any

A couple years ago a friend of mine introduced me to the blog of one of her friends. This mom/photographer/blogger has an amazing way of capturing the everyday trials and joys of parenthood and I loved reading through her posts - especially those when she was expecting her second child. However, I'll never forget sitting a my computer, tears streaming down my face, as I read about her daughter, Nella's, birth and the realization that she had Down Syndrome. As a mom, I know the feeling of spending so much time praying for a healthy child, and thankfully so far I have been blessed. But it still hit very close to home.

Out of this difficult time, however, an amazing thing has happened. This talented mom, Kelle Hampton, used her talents to bring light and awareness on this issue. In fact, many of you may have read her story in Parent magazine. For those of you who didn't, her blog (and the story) can be found here.

So how does this all relate to our little hearts? Recently little Nella turned one, and in order to celebrate this milestone, the ONEder Fund was created to raise money for awareness and opportunities for those with Downs . Is your little one celebrating a milestone of their own soon? Perhaps a gift in honor of your special child could be made to the ONEder Fund to help other special children!

Toys, Toys and More Toys!

Type: Donation

Age: Any

Summertime movie season is really ramping up now with the release of the much anticipated Shrek 4 and Toy Story 3. In conjunction with the release of Toy Story 3, Toys for Tots will be collecting toys throughout the month of June in selected cities. Check here to see a list of participating locations and to read more information about the promotion. One of the best parts is that the toys will be distributed locally in the communities that they have been donated in!

Those of us who have watched and loved previous Toy Story movies know that the premise is about a boy and his most beloved toys. I am sure that it wouldn't be hard for you and your child to identify those toys of his or hers that are loved up the most as well. Could your child imagine not having that toy! For millions of kids, that is just the case. So encourage your child to help you select a new, unwrapped toy for donation to one of those children in need. Not only will you be enjoying a great movie, you will be bringing a smile to another happy child!

Stamp Out Hunger

Type: donation
Age: over 3

The arrival of the mail carrier at our home each day is a time of excitement for both myself and my daughters. There's something about not knowing what fabulous surprise could be delivered for you that is so enticing! However, rather than just waiting for what the letter carrier could bring for you this week, we have a unique opportunity with our little hearts to give something back.

On Saturday May 8th, letter carriers nationwide will be collecting non-perishable food donations left in your mailboxes. Donations will be given to Feeding America, the nations largest hunger relief organization. In mere minutes, with a little guidance from you, your little one should have no problem finding items in your pantry or kitchen that can be donated. This is also a great time to talk with your kids about the problem of hunger in our country. For some additional information, check out the website here.

It might be a pretty simple project, but be sure that you and your child will have a huge impact 'stamping out hunger!'

Walking for Others

Type: walk, donation
Age: any

I have been fortunate enough to give birth to two full term babies, and and hoping for another this summer. But for more than half a million other mothers around the country, they can not say the same. Thanks to organizations like March of Dimes, research and support aimed at preventing premature births continues.

With spring in full force and summer around the corner, 'walk' season has officially begun. Nearly every non-profit organization hosts a walk to raise funds to support their causes, and these walks are the perfect opportunity for your little hearts to serve others. I'm sure we take our kids for walks all the time as it is, what better way to spend an afternoon than raising funds for something worthwhile. These events are always family friendly and are usually very moving. Both you and your child will walk away feeling like you have really taken part in something special.

So whether it is March of Dimes (find more information about participating in a walk here) or another great cause - hit the streets with your little one and get your walk on!

Have you participated in a walk with your little heart? Would love to see pics - please send my way!

Movies Can Make a Difference

Type: activity, donation

Age: over 3

Leave it Disney to combine 2 wonderful children's activities - watching movies and serving others! You may have heard of Disney's new movie Oceans coming to theatres on April 22nd. But did you know that by seeing it the opening week a donation will be made in your child's name by Disneynature to help save the coral reefs? After watching the majestic cinematography, I'm sure your child will understand the importance of not only helping people, but helping our planet as well.

Check it out and let us know what you think!

Easter Ideas - Coin Box for Lent

Type: donation

Age: over 2

During this Lenten season many of us have chosen to go without or to do more - relying on God's strength to help us when we are weak. Surely there is a lesson in this for our little hearts as well. Thanks to reader Jessica for providing this example from her son!

During Sunday School, Jessica's son was given a small box to collect coins which would be used for mission work. I thought it was touching (and quite funny) how she explained it in her message to me, so I will include Jessica's words here...

"My son is desperate to put money in "for Jesus" every chance he can get - so he asks me quite frequently if we have any. He was excited to find some foreign money in his play wallet today and sooo wanted to put it in there. I had to keep a constant eye on it, because what in the world would the church do with all that strange coinage?"

Don't you love that passion and excitement at the prospect of giving!!!! Thanks for sharing this wonderful story and great idea Jessica!

Crayons for Haiti

Type: craft, donation
Age: over 1

I was so excited when my sister-in-law forwarded me a link to Ashley's beautiful blog and saw this amazing project she undertook with her boys. Filled with an overwhelming need to do something to help the children of Haiti, and with her husband boarding a plane to do just that, Ashley created this fun project to bring a little joy into the otherwise devastated hearts of the Haitian children.

Ashely has done an amazing job of including step-by-step directions on how to make this craft, so please check it out at her blog found here: http://ashleyannphotography.com/blog/2010/02/15/diy-notebooks-crayons-to-haiti-with-love/

Essentially she and her boys took small memo pads of paper, affixed elastic to the back to hold the crayons, put the crayons in each and decorated the covers. My description certainly doesn't do it justice, so please check out her amazing photos of this project. As you can see from the photos, there were jobs for the older children (cutting, gluing, decorating) as well as the youngest (drawing and decorating).

In preparation for their Dad's trip and while making the craft, Ashley took the opportunity to talk with her boys about the effects of the earthquake and the great need the country currently has. This act of giving is certain to have a lasting impact on them all. Thanks again Ashley for the awesome idea!

National Reading Month Ideas - Birthday Books

Type: donation, books

Age: any

I have written several times about my older daughter, but this particular idea features an idea appropriate for any age child. In this case it is my 1 year old daughter, Brier. When it came time for her first birthday in December, I looked around at the mountains of girly things we already owned and couldn't conjure up any ideas for what family could get her for this occasion. So instead, we decided having guests bring gifts to donate would be the perfect idea!

Each guest to Brier's party brought a book personalized for her to commemorate this big day, and another book that would be donated. As I have previously posted, we LOVE books, and you can always add to your collection, so Brier happily opened all her specially selected new books. Afterwards we wrapped up the dozen or so donated books and headed to Detroit and and a place called the Matrix Organization which has a Headstart program in the heart of the city. For my husband, myself, Schuler and Brier, it was an amazing experience touring the facility and seeing how excited they were to be receiving this gift.

For your child's next birthday, consider making a donation in your child's name. Not only will you be impacting your community, but yours and your child's lives as well.

National Reading Month Ideas - Milk + Bookies

You never know where inspiration is going to come from - and this post is no exception as it came from, of all places, a celebrity mom blog! Seems that many of the cool Hollywood mom's (including my personal fav Jennifer Garner) are supporting an organization called Milk + Bookies. According to their website:

"Milk + Bookies is a non-profit organization that teaches young children how great it feels to give back while celebrating the love of a good book"

I can't think of a mission statement that touches my 'little heart' more - as in addition to identifying with the service portion, I am an avid reader and lover of books. So in honor of National Reading Month, I wanted to highlight the work of this organization.

If you and your little one decide to support Milk + Bookies, please let us know. We'd love to hear how it went. As always, we love your ideas, comments and feedback!

Baking up a storm

Type: baking, donation

Age: 2 and over

My daughters and I LOVE to bake! It seems every week we are whipping up a batch of cookies, brownies, muffins, bread - you name it! We love eating almost as much, but let's be honest, there's probably a limit on how many cookies one child (or mom!) should be eating. So it seemed like a great idea to find someone else who might benefit from our baking extravaganzas.


I was able to hook up with a local hospice group who was looking for just what we had - baked goods! Many of the hospice patients have lots of family and visitors coming and going, and they thought it would be nice to have some treats available for all those special people. With the help of one of our small groups at church, we enlisted parents and kids age 2 - 16 to help in the baking and decorating of 4 dozen different goodies. The beauty of this activity was that there was truly something for every skill level to participate in from rolling to frosting to adding sprinkles.

So whether a Sunday afternoon at home baking with the kids or an organized group effort, you're sure to find someone in your community who would benefit from some sweet treats!