Giving Gifts From The Heart

The holiday season is a time of year to remind us to give thanks for all we have and to give to those in need. It is also a time to remind us what’s really important and what isn’t. The holiday season is a joyous time for many. Although for some it triggers feelings of sadness and loss.  I believe in miracles, and love after loss and light after darkness.  There’s just something about this time of year that ignites a feeling of magic and joy, from the music, the smells, the sounds, and most of all, the children’s lit-up faces.

Now you can imagine how extremely excited children are during the holiday season with the idea of receiving gifts and time off from school. If you have been in a classroom in the month of December then you surely know what I am talking about. The excitement takes over and sometimes I just can’t blame them because I’m feeling it too. However, the conversations among kids were always about what they wanted. They had long lists of items that they “had” to have. So after hearing this, I knew this is a perfect time to remind my students what the true meaning of the holidays is all about. A time for being with loved ones, a time for giving, a time for hope, and a time for happiness. So I turned to my joyful students and said, “We’re changing our mindset this holiday season. There will be no gift exchange in our classroom this year and we will not be making anything for your families.” You should have seen their faces. They looked at me confused with downward eyes like I knocked the joy right out of them. I proceeded with, “This holiday season you will only be giving gifts from your heart. Gifts from the heart cannot be bought in stores. They cannot be made. It must be a gift from the heart.” From there eyebrows went up and intrigued faces gleamed back at me.

Lesson Outline:

• Define a Gift From The Heart: A gift from the heart comes directly from the heart. This gift cannot be bought in a store or made. Some gifts from the heart could be love, kindness, care, quality time, friendship, etc.

• Identify the Who: Ask students to think about a special person in their life to whom they’d like to give a gift from the heart. Special people could be family members, friends, teachers or pets, etc.

• Identify and write about the who, what, and why: Students write to who they are giving the gift, what the gift from the heart is, and why they’d like to give them this gift.

Example:

I would like to give a gift from my heart to my little brother. I would give my brother some quality time for us to share together. I would like to give this gift from my heart to him because he has been seeking my attention for quite some time now but I have been so busy with my schoolwork and sports that we haven’t spent much time together. He seems lonely. I miss spending time with my little brother and my brother misses spending quality time with me. We could do something special together or play his favorite game. I think this gift from my heart will make my little brother so happy. That is why I want to give this gift from my heart to him.

You can modify how much students write depending on the age/grade level of your students.

And let me tell you, what these kids wrote sincerely came from their hearts and they enjoyed it. And then came the best part…a student raised his hand and asked, “Could we gifts from our heart to more than one person?” Bright-eyed I responded with, “YES, of course, you can!!” The best gift I receive each year is seeing their hearts full of love and joy. Soon the class was writing and giving gifts to teachers, classmates, family members, and even pets. They loved sharing their “gifts” with each other and it brought a warm feeling to our classroom. A truly wonderful project of beautiful words and a fantastic display. You could get giving gifts from the heart writing templates and bulletin board display here. *Recently added a link to a digital planning sheet and gift template for virtual learning.

Before we left for the holiday break, each child took their gift(s) from the display. We talked about how important it was to actually “give” the gift from their heart.  I imagine that these children made many others really happy during the holiday season. What the season is truly all about… the love and joy you give to others.

Do you have a special person in your life whom you’d like to give a gift from your heart?

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Happy Holidays & Happy Gift Giving From My Classroom To Yours!