A lot of blogger tag's go around, and most of them are about what we all have in our make-up and skincare collections. I myself have taken part in them, and so I thought that seeing as Christmas is coming up, we could put a blogger tag to good use. While we will all be opening countless gifts under the tree this year, many children will have none. They may never even have had a Christmas present before.
This is where Operation Christmas Child comes in. I have done this almost every year since I was in primary school. It's a lot of fun, and selfless at the same time. It gives children a Christmas they can remember and attach happy memories to, and it gives them things they would never usually be able to get hold of or afford themselves. You basically just get a shoebox, and fill it with little (unwrapped!) gifts suitable for the age and gender you have chosen. For more detailed information on how to do it, go here.
I've thought of this 'tag' a little late, from the time this is published we will only have 18 days to get our boxes filled and to the nearest drop off point. So, let's get cracking guys! You can make your own box and fill it yourself, or you can just order one that's already filled, online here. You can also find out where your nearest drop-off point is here.
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You will need one medium sized shoe box. Wrap the box in Christmas wrapping paper. Then choose the age range and gender you want to send your box to. Before you spend all your money on the gifts to go inside the box, put £2.50 aside for the shoebox donation, to cover postage costs. Don't worry, it doesn't cost too much to fill. I usually spend around £20 on mine, and that pays for a lot of gifts that the child will love. Just think...£20 is the price of one or two items of make-up. Surely you can give up buying your MAC powder for a while to do this?
"What to put in the box:
Toys: Bear, soft toy, tennis ball, finger puppet, jigsaw, yo-yo, building blocks, small musical instrument. For boys: trucks and cars, For girls: dolls, clip on earrings, etc.
Educational Supplies: Felt pens, pens, pencils, pencil sharpener, eraser, colouring book, notepad, picture or puzzle book, chalk, pencil case, stickers, etc.
Hygiene Items: Toothbrush, toothpaste, hairbrush, comb, hair clips, bar of soap, flannel, etc.
Other Items: Sweets (sell-by date to be at least March of the following year), gloves, scarf, sunglasses, cap, hat, bangles, necklaces etc.
All gifts should be new, please include items from each category.
What not to put in:
No Food
especially chocolate - non-chocolate sweets are allowedNo medicine
or vitamins of any kindNo war related items
toy guns, soldiers or knives of any kindNo clothing
other than listed aboveNo fragile items
glass containers, mirrors.No liquids
including blow bubbles, shampoo, bubble bath, toiletry sets or aerosols.No dangerous items
sharp objects, scissors or razorsNo novels
Nothing of a political nature
No hand-knitted stuffed toys without a CE mark"
I know this list from the website sounds really confusing, but I promise it isn't! I've included images of my box with the items I currently have for it, to help you. I haven't finished it yet, I'm planning to put some sweets and things from the toy section. So far it's all cost me around £14. Don't buy expensive things, the 'own brand' things are just as good and far cheaper. Also I haven't wrapped my box in wrapping paper yet, but I will keep you updated over the next week or so with how it's coming along :)
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I chose to give my box to a girl, aged 10-14 years old. I thought of things I would have liked at that age, and also followed some of the items on the list.
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I then also got an A5 notebook, a clear pencil case, and I filled it with coloured pencils, pens, and a small flexible ruler. All items are new, but I took the labels off things as I'm guessing some children won't have scissors to cut them off with?
I'm going to get the other things to put in the box over the next week, so will keep you updated!
So bloggers, who's doing this with me? All you have to do is post about the tag and what we're doing on your blog, and post photos of your box and the items you're putting in it. I think it'll be fun to see what everyone comes up with, and of course lots of children will benefit from it at the end :)
You can also tweet about it with the link to this post, to help raise awareness of what we're doing, with the hashtag #OperationBlogger
