Kids Giving Back, One Drawing at a Time

My daughter once earned 25 cents from a water bottle. She immediately asked if she could give it to her school.

Nobody told her to. She just wanted to. Kids understand giving back more than we sometimes expect. What they need is a way to see it.

Giving Tuesday is coming up on December 1, the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, when people around the world give to causes they care about. So before it arrives, here's how kids giving back works at pixyit, and where our 5% goes.

Where the 5% goes

We built giving into pixyit from day one. 5% of every order, from family subscriptions to keepsakes, goes to a youth nonprofit.

Our default is the Association of Children's Museums (ACM). We're a strategic partner of ACM, and we love what it stands for. In its own words, its mission is to "champion children's museums and together enrich the lives of children worldwide". It supports children's museums in all 50 states and around the world.

For a lot of families, a children's museum is a child's first museum. It's where many kids first get to build, paint, pour and pretend without anyone telling them what it should look like. That's a world we want more kids to have.

Some special campaigns may support a different nonprofit. When they do, we'll always say so clearly.

How kids see what their creations make possible

When someone orders a keepsake made from a child's creation, two things happen. 3% grows that child's piggy bank. And 5% of the order goes to a youth nonprofit.

Kids can see both in their family gallery: what their creations have earned, and the donation their orders helped make. Kids love seeing it.

That second number is the one I find myself talking about with my kids. It turns a drawing on the fridge into something bigger. Something they made helped another kid somewhere.

Why giving should be something kids can see

A lot of giving happens out of sight. A parent donates online, a receipt lands in an inbox, and kids never know it happened. That's fine for grown-ups.

Kids learn from what they can see. When a child can point to a number and say "my drawing helped with that", giving stops being an idea. It becomes something they did.

Kids giving back: small ways to talk about it this Giving Tuesday

• Look at the numbers together. Open the family gallery with your child and find the donation their orders helped make. Let them ask the questions.

• Let them decide something. If your child has a piggy bank, ask if they'd like to give a little of it to a cause they care about. Their choice, their reasons.

• Tell them where it goes. Children's museums are easy for kids to picture. Ask what they'd want another kid to find there.

• Make something for someone. A card for a neighbor, a drawing for a teacher. Giving doesn't always need money.

None of this has to be a lesson. Kids usually get there on their own, the way my daughter did with her 25 cents.

Create your family gallery