I really like doing a Reverse Advent basket because it shows young children a very literal meaning of giving back to others. When we go to the store during the month of December I ask each of them to find something that they would like to add to the basket that someone would need, not want. It often takes a few tries for them to find an item that a person would need. At first, they bring a fun toy or a new book and we have to talk about how those are nice but wouldn't someone who had very little probably prefer warm gloves? If someone had no money to call a loved one, would they rather have a bag of quarters or a bag of M&Ms? The wheels in their heads start turning and they start to begin to understand what it is to need.
It is also a good reminder to me of how much I have and that I should appreciate it. We take the basket to a charity on Christmas Eve. This year, we are donating the goods to the People's City Mission. The PCM was started in 1907 and it has assisted over 500,000 people.
Here are some items that we put in our basket:
- gloves
- chapstick
- granola bars
- peanut butter
- bag of quarters
- shampoo
- soap
- toothbrushes
- pens
