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Small Hands, Big Hearts: Spark the Spirit of Giving

Last Year's Family Volunteerism Event is Back!

Daily, 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.; Friday - Saturday, 5:30 - 7:30 p.m.

Small Hands, Big Hearts: Sparking the Spirit of Giving is a family service event held at Minnesota Children's Museum January 15 - 30, 2011. Children and adults can begin or continue a tradition of service through simple acts of kindness.

Families can participate in the following activities:

• Creating cheeful cards for children receiving treatment at Children's Hospital in Minneapolis
• Decorating lunch bags for the Meals on Wheels program
• Making toys for pets residing at the Animal Humane Society shelter
• Donating loose change to Second Harvest Heartland, Animal Humane Society or Children's Heartlink
• Bringing new socks and mittens to donate to Simpson Housing Services

Help Keep Feet Warm All Year Long

During Small Hands, Big Hearts, the socks will be attached to a "sock hop line" that runs through the Museum's Atrium.

Start a Conversation with Your Family

• Visit the Doing Good Together website to see possible service projects for your family to undertake. Set aside a Saturday morning or specific weekday evening to complete one or more projects. Talk about the difference you've made.
• Remind your children that service is a two-way street; we could all be at the giving and receiving end of our community's help.
• Try to implement some of their ideas together as a family. Host a fundraiser for an animal shelter, tidy up your neighborhood park or collect children's books for a local family shelter. It's empowering for children to initiate a project that comes to life.

Big-Hearted Families: Assignment #1

Big-Hearted Families: Assignment #2

Resource Links

• Doing Good Together is a non-profit organization committed to inspiring families to volunteer together.
• Meals on Wheels ensures members of our community receive nutrious meals and the human connection they need to live independently.
• Simpson Housing Services is a Minneapolis-based shelter and transitional housing service for families.
• Bridging, Inc. provides the economically disadvantaged with a one-time gift of quality furniture and household items that helps to stabilize and improve their lives while effectively using community resources.
• Children's Heartlink is a medical, non-governmental organization working in partnership with healthcare centers in underserved regions of the world to promote sustainable cardiac care for children with congenital or acquired heart disease.
• Second Harvest Heartland works to reinvent hunger relief through leadership and innovation.
• Animal Humane Society engages the hearts, hands and minds of the community to help animals.

Pre-Visit Activities

Make Sandwiches 
Make sandwiches for Simpson Housing guests before visiting the Museum for Small Hands, Big Hearts. Purchase enough materials to make 100 sandwiches; however, quality is much more important than quantity.

What you will need: Purchase plastic gloves, bread, meat, cheese, and sandwich bags. Please no condiments.

Before making the sandwiches, contact Christina Giese at (612) 455-0859 or cgiese@simpsonhousing.com in order to schedule. Download activity information

Make Greeting Cards
Make greeting cards for children or adults who are ill and could use cheering up.

What you will need: Blank cards and envelopes, decorating supplies, and postage stamps.

Call a local nursing home or hospital to see if they are interested in receiving your cards, or visit Hugs and Hope or Make a Child Smile for the names, photos and stories of seriously ill children in need of some "happy mail". Download activity information

Updates!

• Kiddywampus and Best Buy have been announced as sponsors of Small Hands, Big Hearts 2010!
• 140 students from Liberty Ridge Elementary school will be knitting hats to give away as part of SHBH.

In Partnership with: