In Partnership with Amazon Fire Kids Edition Tablets
It’s so important to give back to our community, and this is one of the biggest lessons we try to teach our kids. We all know sometimes volunteering with the kiddos can be tricky, to say the least. But if your kid has an Amazon Fire Kids Edition Tablet, giving back and doing good is easier than you think. We asked parents and kids alike for ideas on how to use their Amazon Fire Kids Edition tablets to make a difference in their neighborhood. Read on to find out what they said!
1. Give some love to an animal shelter.
Make the Toca Pet Doctor game they found in their Kindle FreeTime Unlimited library a real-life activity—even if you can't have an animal of your own at home. With a never-ending supply of great kids books in any of the Amazon Fire Kids Edition tablets, kids can practice reading to shelter animals. Libraries across the country offer this great way for children to gain literacy skills and confidence, and many shelters also welcome the idea. Find out if your local pet shelter or animal rehab would like to organize a time for kids to read to pets—they can bring that indestructible Fire Kids Edition 7 along with.
2. Gather old toys and donate them to a local organization.
Whether it’s the post-gift-giving holiday season or your kiddo has a birthday coming up soon, every parent loves a good toy purge. This year, why not teach your little ones about the power of giving and receiving by having your kids go through their toys and books and encourage them to donate to others in need. You can take your kid-approved donations to places like pediatrician office waiting rooms, daycare centers or churches and synagogues (just make sure to check with them first). Police and fire departments also welcome toys to help to calm distraught kids, too.
Before you start making “keep” and “donate” piles with your kid, you can start the conversation about giving with your kids via shared storytime on the Amazon Fire Kids Edition tablet: books like Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree and The Berenstain Bears Think of Those in Need by Jan and Stan Berenstain are great places to start.
3. Host a bake sale to end child hunger.
No Kid Hungry is committed to making sure kids never go hungry. One of the ways they meet this goal is through the Bake Sale to End Child Hunger. This national fundraising initiative is simple: you hold a bake sale in your community, and the proceeds are donated back to the organization. Getting started is easy and bake sales can be held any time of the year. Simply fill out the "Start a Bake Sale" online form and enter the dates, locations and times.
If your kiddo is a rookie in the kitchen, don’t worry: you can prep your mini sous-chef by watching a few episodes of Kitchen Little on Amazon Fire Kids Edition tablets. They have great, easy-to-follow recipes for kids of all ages and cooking abilities.
4. Visit a senior center or nursing home.
Let your kids get artsy and practice their writing, all while doing an act of lovely community service. If your child needs to work on their handwriting before committing crayon to paper, there are plenty of awesome practice letter writing apps available for little hands on one of the Amazon Fire Kids Edition tablets.Your local nursing home or senior living facility could always welcome holiday and birthday cards for residents; call ahead and see if they can give you a list of first names for upcoming resident birthdays.
Want to go one better? Find out if your children can spend some time at a nearby nursing home showing residents how to use tech like Amazon Fire Kids Edition tablets. Kids can find games, shows and books to do together with the residents. (And you know your kids know their Fire Kids Edition tablets better than you do!!)
5. Give your DVDs a new home.
With FreeTime Unlimited—a one-year subscription is included with you buy one of the Amazon Fire Kids Edition tablets—the more than 15,000 kid-friendly books, videos, educational apps and games at your kids’ hands have likely turned your DVD collection into a “Definitely Very Dusty” collection.
Help your kids pick out the DVDs they don't watch anymore and give them a new home (because let’s get real: is your five-year-old really going to watch Baby Einstein anymore?). Children's hospitals, libraries, women’s shelters and daycare centers often welcome such donations. Elementary schools may also take some of your gems (rated G, of course).
6. Make a homemade comfy blanket.
Linus from the Peanuts comic isn't the only person who knows the value a comfy blanket can bring. Project Linus understands too, and they make it their mission to provide homemade security blankets to kids in hospitals, shelters or wherever they need a bit of comfort in their lives. You and your family can become "blanketeers" by creating a handmade blanket or afghan for a kiddo in need. Once you're finished, you drop it off at one of the organization’s donation centers in your closest city.
Not a sewing pro? No problem! Check out this short video tutorial showing how to make a no-sew pillow via Amazon Prime Video.
7. Create hygiene and care kits for people who are homeless.
Many often think about people who are homeless during the holiday season, but in truth, they need help 365 days of the year. Get the conversation going by reading books like Maddi’s Fridge, Last Stop on Market Street or Those Shoes with your kids one of the Amazon Fire Kids Edition tablets.
Hygiene and care kits (sometimes called “blessing bags”) are extremely helpful and welcomed by those living without the comforts of simple personal hygiene every day. Families can take kids shopping for items under $5 such as toothpaste, toothbrushes, deodorant, new socks, hand sanitizer or wet wipes and assemble them in Ziplock bags. Families can then distribute bags on their own or bring them to a local homeless shelter.
8. Shop for your family while donating to organizations important to you.
Did you know that by making one teeny, tiny change to your online shopping at Amazon, you can make a donation to an organization of your choosing every time you shop? The AmazonSmile Foundation donates a portion of purchases to an organization shoppers choose—all without costing anything extra. Visit smile.amazon.com to pick your charity of choice and start donating with every purchase you make.
Parents you can shop directly on any of the Amazon Fire Kids Edition tablets: turn off parental controls to access the Silk web browser—just don’t forget to turn the parental controls back on when you’re finished!
How do you get your kids involved in giving back? Tell us your ideas and share your stories in the comments.
—Leah R. Singer, Susie Foresman, Keiko Zoll, Amber Guetebier
featured image by kko669 via Pixabay
