Shoeboxes

I stocked up on school supplies when they were on sale.  I picked up odds and ends of neat things throughout the year and kept doubles of Kid's Meal toys/books.  This week we bought soap, washcloths, toothpaste, cups, candy, coloring pages, and stuffed animals or dolls, as well as other boy/girl activities.  Kent, Katy, and Kaomi went with me to help pick these things out.

Then we got ready to pack shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child.  The kids helped open packages and set everything out of like kinds together around the table.  Jeff wrapped the cardboard shoeboxes with wrapping paper. We wrapped the soap in the washcloths and put them in ziplock bags.  We put together a couple small ziplock bags of girls hair stuff.  Kaomi helped assemble bags of candy and Kent sealed them up.  I set the box of extra fillers to the side and we were ready to start.

Ready to start packing shoeboxes.

Kent, Katy, Kaomi, and Felicity each chose the box they wanted to fill and set to work around the table putting items in their boxes.  I helped Felicity.  The last stop was to see Daddy who had the boy and girl activities and he gave them one activity for their box.  When everyone had all their stuff they sat down to rearrange their boxes to fit everything in the best way.  Daddy helped them as needed.  While they were working on that I filled a box "from" Clark.  When their boxes were all arranged they brought them to me to see what kind of fillers they needed to help finish off their boxes.  Then Kent, Katy, and Kaomi each filled another box.

We've been doing this for several years and it is something our children have really enjoyed doing.  They look forward to choosing items and filling a shoebox full of things for a child who may not get any other gift for Christmas.

Have you ever packed a shoebox for Operation Christmas Child?
If you've wanted to pack a shoebox and don't have time or a drop-off point nearby, you can build a box online this year.