You can help the Kuapa Kokoo cooperative in Ghana that provides the delicious Divine Chocolate in the advent calendars and bags of foil covered coins sold by SERRV (serrv.org). Request a SERRV catalog to find other gifts from less developed countries.
Two organizations give children an opportunity to choose how they would like to help others overseas. With a donation as little as $25, children can go to kiva (kiva.org) to pick out a borrower they would like to help. For a donation of $10 or more to Heifer International (heifer.org) you can send honor cards to children telling them how much they have to contribute to the purchase of an animal for a family in need.
At wwfcatalog.org, when you donate $55 to the World Wildlife Fund, you can choose a plush version of over 100 symbolically adopted animals for a child and become a partner in a global conservation effort that establishes new protected areas for animals, stops wildlife crime, finds innovative ways to safeguard marine life, ensures healthy freshwater systems, and provides a sustainable future for our planet.
Gifts from unicef (unicefusa.org) not only help save and protect the world's most vulnerable children, but unicef's rolling carry-on plastic suitcase (12" tall x 18" long x 8" deep) can start kids thinking about how they can travel to a foreign country some day. Until then, they can ride or pull their durable suitcase, which holds up to 75 lbs.
Speaking of foreign travel, maybe it's time to give a youngster his or her own passport. Many US post offices can help with the process or go to travel.state.government/passports.html for information.
To keep youngsters from getting bored on a trip, American Stationery (americanstationery.com) offers personalized, 100 sheet game pads printed with tic-tac-toe, hangman, and dots you connect to make squares.
Of course books are one of the best ways to help children develop an interest in their world. Entertainment Weekly magazine recently mentioned two new picture books that would help parents and teachers introduce youngsters to adventures around the world: Atlas of Adventures by Rachel Williams and Lucy Letherland and The Safari Set by Madeleine Rogers. Another gift-worthy book, Max, Mia and Toby's Adventures Around the World, from Little Passports (littlepassports,com) comes with 7 souvenirs. This site also offers other global gifts, including a World Coin Collection of 20 real foreign coins and a booklet of coin related activities and trivia for kids 6 and over.
Wishing you all a joyful holiday season!
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