Thursday, January 19, 2017

Cards for Hospitalized Kids Project

I feel like I blog about Cards for Hospitalized kids all the time - but is is so kid-friendly and such a great cause I thought it was worth mentioning again in case any of y'all missed it the previous times I've talked about it.  

Cards for Hospitalized Kids is an organization that collects and distributes handmade cards to kids in hospitals and Ronald McDonald Houses across the country. To get involved all you have to do is make cards.  That's it.  When you have little ones it can be hard to find places to volunteer with them in tow - and Cards for Hospitalized kids is an amazing way to open up conversation about empathy and how a small gesture has the power to brighten someone else's day.  

Earlier this week I drew out some Valentine-themed cards, set out the art supplies and let my three go to town.  


Paint, crayons, markers, stickers... anything is great as long as whatever you put on the card doesn't fall off (i.e. glitter).



I leave the insides of the cards blank for the kids to decorate and/or write their own encouraging messages.  


I absolutely adore seeing what they write.  I mean... Luke wrote you rock-et inside his rocket card.  I'm not sure I've ever been more proud :)  You can't include any religious messaging (i.e. praying for you) or anything that makes it about their illness (i.e. feel better, get well soon, etc.) so we include sayings like "You Rock!", "You're Awesome!" "Have a fun day", etc. and the kids sign their first name, Texas and usually their age.


I let them write pretty much whatever they want... like "blast off to joy" that Mason came up with :)  Also... look at that little rocket ship he drew!


Griffin's preferred medium is ALWAYS paint.









Let's all take a minute to look at what Mason wrote inside his sweet little cards...







We worked for about an hour after school and made all of these...


Pop them in an envelope and you're done!



We made Valentine's Day cards this week, but you can make them any time of the year.  Over the summer we would save some of our daily art over the course of a few weeks and then mail them in.  I've even done this with my middle school classes... putting out printed pages as well as just blank paper and letting them be creative.  And let's be real - I love coloring as well and do my own fair share of cards when the supplies are out :)

If you're wanting to make Valentine's cards and need some templates you can download the ones that I made HERE and if you're wanting to make just general cards you can find a few that I made a while ago HERE.  And you can check out the Cards for Hospitalized Kids website HERE to get the guidelines.

Happy Thursday, Friends and Happy Crafting :)

29 comments :

  1. Such a wonderful thing to do with kiddos! And I know they mean the world to the kids and family who receive them!

    ReplyDelete
  2. What an awesome idea! Thank you for sharing all the info!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Fabulous idea, friend! We did this for a local hospital every year when I taught. My kiddos loved it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I need to see if I can deliver them somewhere local! Great idea!

      Delete
  4. I love that you do this Andrea! What a great activity--thank you so much for sharing it! Xo

    ReplyDelete
  5. Love love love this. I am always looking for ways to give back with my kids, their friends and my classroom kids. Thank you for sharing. If you have any other ideas for volunteering in the DFW area I have a 13 and 9 year old and would love suggestions.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's HARD when they're young!!! So many places you have to be 15 or above. If I hear of any great ideas I'll pass them along!

      Delete
  6. Love this! On your suggestion we made cards and sent them as part of our summer bucket list last year. The boys were amazed when we got the SWEETEST thank you note back from the organization. So precious and such a great project. Thanks for sharing the information.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm so glad you were able to do that! The organization really is amazing.

      Delete
  7. I love this! I am sure my girls will too. Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I love that your family does this. Have a penguiny day!

    http://www.lettinginthelightblog.com

    ReplyDelete
  9. How fun! I know you have shared before, but where did you order the trays from?

    ReplyDelete
  10. This is great for a group activity for the 1st-6th graders I help teach/lead on Wednesday nights at our church. Going into my idea file for sure. Thanks so much, Andrea!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I absolutely love that you do this with your kids! I need to make an effort to do this with mine too, thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Love it! My husband works for a large local hospital, so I'm going to have Elle make these for the kids at the hospital there. (Her daycare is through the hospital too... maybe we can get the whole class in on it!)

    Also, we just bought those trays last week, and we are LOVING them! No more marker & crayon marks on my dining room table!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I LOVE this! Thank you for sharing! This will be a perfect evening activity!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Thank you for the link to your cards Andrea. I'm going to have my high school special ed life skills students work on some to send to the kids.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Thank you for sharing this, will definitely do this with my 4 year-old, great way to keep her occupied and away from screens with a good purpose, win-win all around!! Thanks!!

    ReplyDelete
  16. I work for a Children's hospital, and the kids love getting these cards! Thanks for sharing your templates--they are SO cute!! I think I'll have my 3rd grade Sunday School kids make some!

    ReplyDelete
  17. This is so neat! I may make this a project for myself and my little one and even invite our cousins over one day!

    ReplyDelete
  18. I love this so much Andrea! I was actually just thinking about a way to serve others with my little ones. Your designs are so amazing!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Andrea! Why are you not a ART teacher???...You are so talented!!!❤️🎨 I just love seeing all the cute worksheets you make for your class and things like these cards for your kids. Great job!!! AND thanks for sharing about this organization. Such a great idea. I'm going to share with my friend who's the Children's Education Minister at our church.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Every time you share this idea, it makes me want to have my girls make them! We need to find the time! Love the idea!

    ReplyDelete
  21. I took this idea and ran with it last year, as a service-week project at my church, and it was awesome! I even used a few of your templates (thank you!). We had an amazing turn out, and I'm praying for even more cards this year.

    ReplyDelete
  22. i have decided to go to my daughter's preschool class tomorrow and help them do this service project. thank you for the idea!!

    ReplyDelete

Blog design by Get Polished | Copyright 2016