The girls and I are busy today getting our Operation Christmas Child boxes together. This is a fun activity that you can do with your children to spread a little joy to children that are less fortunate.
You can just pack up a box (either a plastic box or an actual shoebox) with items that are age and gender specific and then look up a drop off location near you. Each box does cost $7 for shipping and handling.
You can include little toys, books, games, toiletries (no liquids), clothing etc.. in your box and brighten up the holidays for children around the world.
The deadline to send off boxes is November 15-22, so best to get your boxes sorted out this weekend.
You can get all the information you need about the Operation Christmas Child program here as well as detailed instructions on what to put in boxes and where you can drop them off.
I’ll post some pictures of what we decided to add to our boxes once we finish!
Does anyone have clever ideas for great deals on items this weekend that would work for these boxes?
You can click below to see how my boxes turned out!
Here is what I pulled together for our boxes. We did 2 for girls aged 2-4 and one for a girl aged 5-9. I find my girls like little bags and boxes and things for their treasures so I dug up 3 toiletry bags I had that came free with various products. We wrapped everything in bright tissue and the girls decorated with glitter and crayons and stickers. Many of these items I purchased at various clearance sales throughout the year.
Here is what I included:
3 makeup bags-free
3 boxes bandaids- free
3 toothbrushes- free
3 toothpaste- free
3 notebooks- .03-.24 each on clearance at Target
2 boxes crayons .24 each
colored pencils for the older girl- .97 at Target & pencil sharpener .69
2 socks $1 each
Dominos $2.69 at Target
Horse stuffed animal $6.99 at Hallmark- used $5 coupon= $1.99
My Little Pony .22 (I told you about this deal way back in March)
3 washcloths on clearance at Target- .62 each
1 pack hairbands- divided up and tied with ribbon between 3 girls- free from Walgreens ages ago
3 plastic tubs $1.29 each
Lion King book- .24 on clearance at Target
1 fancy box with tissue and a bar of soap- I got this as part of a gift pack and I don’t use bar soap but I think a little girl will love this
So the total was $15.31 or $5 per box!
alice says
How about some of the stationary things that are work rewards this week at Office Depot?
Sonya says
One of my favorite things to do. So much fun to gather tiny goodies and fill a shoebox to brighten a child’s day!
Michelle Evans says
I love this idea!!
Rachel says
I picked up a pair of bright flip flops to put in my shoebox this Christmas. They are on super-mark-down right now since summer is over, and they don’t take up much room.
Sarah says
I hope several, if not a hundred, of your readers participate. Our girls do a shoebox apiece, based on a girl their age. These go to children that have nothing, and spending a few dollars is well spent in our home, even with a very strict budget.
Remember, no toothpaste (considered liquid). Bar soap and hard candy or gummy bears are always a hit. We like to hold onto any hard candy at Halloween and pass it onto the children. They can trade the little packages with each other. Pitch in a stockpiled toothbrush….come on, I just started couponing in May and I already have 6 extra toothbrushes!
Charlene says
Sarah- I was going to add fruit snacks but I wasn’t sure if that is considered food? The page says you can do toothpaste but other liquids are not allowed.
Whitney says
My kids and I pick up stuff all year long and stash it away for our shoeboxes. We hit the dollar spot at Target every time we’re there and find all kinds of neat things. A few things we always send are colorful flashlights, extra batteries, cute colorful socks, toothbrushes, harmonicas, hairbrushes, hair ribbons, Matchbox cars, coloring books and crayons, yo-yos, stickers, candy, and Slinkies! This year we are using some cute shoe-box sized Christmas decorated boxes that we found at the dollar store for $2 to fill. It’s one of my favorite things to do with my kids and because we pick up things all year round, when November rolls around, we always have enough to fill several boxes!
Casey Malone says
I have never packed a box but decided this will be a great Christmas tradition for me and my two year old. So far I have two big things of Playdoh, Dora toothbrush, 4 packs of Sponge Bob toothpaste, Sunglasses, Crayons, Glue Sticks, flashlight (WIth extra batteries)and a package of stars that glow in the dark. I am going to grab a coloring book and a small doll. Is that enough? The box is going to be full but it seems like so little for a child’s Christmas. Any help from those who have done it before?
Jessica says
We do this as well. Thanks for posting!!!
Charlene says
Casey- I forgot the sunglasses! We have extras from Graveyard Mall so I’ll have to see if I can fit them in there. I think that is probably going to stuff your box and is probably plenty 🙂 I think the only other thing would be any little treats. I thought I had some lollipops left from Halloween but my husband found them. I got the Mentos though and then they have little plastic boxes to use for more treasures when they are done with them. I think one of those bigger lollipops that are bright in color would probably thrill a child to pieces. If you can spare the time to wrap things I think that means a lot to little ones too. Imagine how exciting to see bright packages that you get to unwrap. I bought tissue from the $1 spot at Target.
Andrea says
Don’t forget to include a letter from your family and your address. I mailed 2 boxes about 4 years ago and included a letter and picture of our family. I now have a pen pal in India who received my box.
Charlene says
Yeah we did that too Andrea. I was upset I didn’t get our holiday photos back in time to include them… next year!
Anna S. says
I really love the idea of doing this and including your children in the process as well. I think I will try to stock up on appropriate items this coming year to do this next year. I just don’t like that you have to pay so much in shipping- possibly more than it even costs to purchase the contents! I am thinking maybe there is a program in my local area like this that I could just drop the boxes off to be given to local kids- because I would love to do a number of these boxes- but shipping would just make it cost too much.
Sara says
Our boxes look very similar! Glad you are advertising this!!
Charlene says
Anna I was saying that to some other bloggers yesterday 🙂 I wish I could ship it myself from Office Depot and get the rewards so I could do more. I will tell you that you can probably find something locally. That is actually what I did last year but this year I don’t know of anyone organizing in my area. I just took my girls to get their hair cut and the lady that worked there just picked up a 3 yo to be her Foster mom. Well that girl was the sweetest thing ever and had a black eye and a little dress 2 sizes too big that was exposing her chest. I’ll tell you it is just devastating what some children face in life.
Sheri says
If you are dropping off your shoeboxes, you may want to check with your local Chick Fil A. For the past couple of years, our local Chick Fil A has offered a coupon for a free sandwhich to anyone who dropped off a box (they have always given me 1 coupon PER box that I have dropped off). I don’t know if all of them do it so you should probably give them a call first but if they do – its an awesome deal!
Kira C says
Another tip for anyone who hasn’t done them yet — DON’T wrap the little gifts inside the box, and if you do wrap the box, do the lid separate from the box. I used to volunteer at one of the processing stations (there are only a few around the country, different than drop-off locations), and volunteers have to un-wrap everything that is wrapped to make sure nothing is a prohibited item. Sorry Charlene 🙁
Charlene says
Oh darn Kira. That stinks. I was thinking about that and I used tissue paper that you can see what the item is. I didn’t seal the bottoms with tape either so we’ll see what they say when I drop them off.
Kira C says
Yeah, unfortunately the people who volunteer for the drop-off locations don’t really know, so they probably won’t say anything. That’s why I wanted to share my “inside” knowledge 🙂
Farrah says
Thanks for the reminder! I have 6 boxes all ready to go! Each of our kids pack up a box for a child the same age as them. Kira–thanks for the insider-info. This is so easy to do, I grab little things all year with coupons or on clearance.
michelle says
Does anyone know where you can do something like this for infants??
Taylor in Maui says
Charlene,
My husband and I just went out yesterday and filled up our shoebox with treasures for some precious child as well. Thanks for blogging about this, I in return blogged about it in hopes more people will bless needy children this year.
Mary Orton says
I have done these in the past but due to family needs this year did not get these packed up in time. I have donated one in honor of each grandchild and hope we can get back to that next year. Since we missed the deadline we packed up the items we already had and donated them to the domestic violence shelter. I just wanted to mention that I keep a watch out for deals on those flashlights that you can wind up instead of batteries. One year Menard’s had them for freee or close to free. I figure that elimates the problem of the child running out of batteries.
Ally says
On “On the Record” tonight on Fox News (10 pm EST or I think they rerun at 1 am EST), they have a segment on Haiti and show the delivery of gift boxes from Samaritan’s Purse, the organization that runs this program. The kids they showed were so excited as they opened the boxes!
Ally says
actually here is the link to the segment – I think it’s near the end – http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/on-the-record/index.html#/v/4457367/mission-of-mercy-in-haiti/?playlist_id=86925