Blessing Bags Project for Kids
In the By Thistle By Thimble story, "What's So," Thomas is a squire who hopes to become a brave and famous knight. The only problem is that the knight he serves seems only to care for the poor and needy. He has no adventures and earns no glory or riches by serving this humble man.
But when Thomas is finally knighted himself and learns what is truly “so” in the world, his picture of his former master changes to one of deep respect.
If you start researching ways to help the homeless on the internet, it can quickly become so overwhelming that you give up.
Most organizations agree that the best way to help is to send money, but if part of your goal is to also teach your young squires (er...kiddos) to be kind and giving, writing a check is usually just not hands-on enough.
What “helping” looks like can also be very different depending on where you live. In the larger town I live in now, I see homeless people almost every day. In the small, rural town I grew up in, there were no visible homeless people, but we did have a safe house for victims of domestic violence.
This week's projects are intended to cater to both of those situations.
First, we have “small blessing bags”. These are simply ziplock bags stuffed with small food items. I made them specifically to stick in my purse or backpack for when my kids and I are walking downtown, and someone asks, “I'm hungry, can you help me out?”
Second, we have “larger blessing bags”. These are intended as a larger gift for an entire shelter. You have to do some homework first by calling your local shelter to see what their needs are, but trust me — they'll have a long list of items to choose from!
For both projects, I've listed suggestions for involving your kids as well. Neither is going to save the world, but both are one tiny step towards making it kinder.
Small Blessing Bags
Materials
- Ziploc bags
- Pre-packaged, non-perishable, easy to eat food items (e.g. crackers, nuts, trail mix, beef jerky, granola bars, applesauce, dried fruit)
- Paper, markers, paint, etc. (optional, for including a note or picture inside the bag if you want)
Directions
The directions for this couldn't be easier: stuff the bags with food, include a note or picture if you want, then tuck one in your purse every time you head out the door.
With that being said, a few notes:
You may have seen “blessing bag” projects for bags filled with toiletries, but I decided to stick with food here because my research indicated that toiletries aren't always that helpful. When you have a houseful of closets to store extra items in, you can stockpile excess toothbrushes and hotel shampoos. When you're getting around with just a backpack, that's harder.
I also found out that it's pretty crucial to put your items in plastic baggies. In our house, we try to limit our use of those, but when you need a lightweight way to keep things dry and protected, plastic baggies become a necessity.
For this project, kids can help shop for the items, stuff the bags, and write a note or draw a picture to include. I also think this would make a great thing to do at a kids' party, with each child bringing a box of different snacks to mix-up into bags and each family taking home a few bags to distribute.
Larger Blessing Bags
Materials
- Items your local shelter needs (call them to find out what these are)
- Canvas tote
- Craft paint
- Paint brush
- Stencil (can be made of scrap paper or cardboard)
- Paper, markers, paint, etc. (optional, for including a note or picture inside the bag if you want)
Directions
Begin by calling your local shelter and seeing what they need. Again, kids can help you shop for the items. For example, our shelter specifically requested Tide Laundry detergent over other brands.
While you can certainly just pack those items up in a grocery sack and drop them off, to get your kids more involved, consider decorating the bag you deliver them in.
There are about a million different ways to decorate a canvas tote bag, so be creative. You could do handprint art, potato stamps, or just paint a picture. Here, we used paper to make a stencil, and then dabbed craft paint all around it to make a beautifully outlined heart.
Once the bag was dry, we stuffed it with the requested items. As with the smaller bags, you could also include a note or picture drawn by your child if you want.
This is a very case-by-case (and kid-by-kid) thing, but I think that a responsible exposure to some of the harder situations that are “so” in the world, can help even the smallest of us be all the more compassionate.
If you liked this tutorial, here are some others you might enjoy:
Not yet a subscriber? Try a free trial HERE.
About the Author
Meryl Carver-Allmond
The Sparkle Kitchen Series is created by Meryl Carver-Allmond.
Meryl lives in a hundred-year-old house near the prairie with her sweet husband, two preschoolers, one puppy, one gecko, and about ten chickens. While she's been writing since she could pick up a pen, in recent years she's discovered the joy of photography, too. She feels lucky to be able to combine those skills, along with a third passion — showing people that cooking for themselves can be healthy and fun — in her Sparkle Kitchen posts.
