How to Make Orphans Happy

Foster Care and Adoption

If you’re wondering how to help orphans in America or anywhere else in the world, foster care and adoption are the best ways. Not everyone can do it, of course, but if you’re considering it, here are some facts to help you decide:

Important note: Orphan care is not only a US issue, and you should always think about the bigger picture. This is a worldwide concern, and you should try to be engaged in organizations around the entire world. We’ll bring out some facts about the situation in America, but that doesn’t mean we are neglecting the globality of the problem. All of these remarks apply to the entire world and giving care to children around the globe.

Foster care

There are nearly 450,000 children in foster care in the United States. If you can make at least one child happy by giving it shelter and love, you’ll make a big difference. All these children need safe places to live and people to nurture them, don’t forget that.

Adoption

Nearly 110,000 foster children are waiting to be adopted. They all deserve to live in a loving family and grow up in a safe place. Some of them find temporary homes and parents while waiting to become a part of one family. Having parents and a lovely home seems like a dream to them, and you can easily help for that dream to come true.

Other Ways to Help

Respite Care

If you’re unable to provide foster care or adopt an orphan child, you can still help in many ways. For example, you can provide respite care that allows primary caregivers to take a break. It’s a remote thing you can do whenever you get a chance, from hours to several days a week. You can do it at home or in a particular facility.

Support Foster Families

Don’t underestimate the help you can provide for a foster family. Parents who welcome an orphan child need all the help they can get, especially in the first couple of months. It doesn’t matter what you can do, whether it’s cooking, babysitting, driving, or cleaning. It’s significant to help in some way and provide support to the family.

Tutoring and Mentoring

You can help a lot by giving orphans lessons. Helping them read, write, understand math, or learn anything else in the world is one of the best gifts you can give. It’s not only about learning but about spending time with them, giving them a chance to rely on someone and open up their little hearts. Children without parents have a hard time trusting and building a relationship with other people. That can change for their healthy development with a little effort and some time from your side.

Giving Gifts

Yes, you can help and make orphans happy by giving gifts, whether material or monetary ones. Orphans could always use some extra pieces of clothes, not to mention educational things such as books and fun stuff such as toys. You want to keep their little heads occupied with useful information, but also make them happier with toys that provide the soothing kind of fun. To do this, you don’t have to spend excessive amounts of money, despite the popular belief. Here are our suggestions:

Sharing is Caring

Your Children’s Stuff

If your child or children are already adults, the chances are, you have a lot of their stuff laying around in the garage or stored somewhere else. What are you planning to do with all those books, art supplies, and toys? Store it forever? Let it deteriorate? Besides, your children will probably buy new stuff for their children. Except for a thing or two, you can really find a better use for all those things.

You can also regift toys that your children have outgrown. Keep a thing or two that has sentimental value and give up on the rest. It might be hard at that very moment, but you’ll be so happy about it later, knowing that all those things make some other parentless children very happy.

Someone Out There Needs It More Than You Do

Giving Up on Gifts

There’s another simple way you can help orphans. Consider making an exception when it comes to this year’s birthday party. While piling up gifts in your living room when you can give something to those who need it the most?

First thing first, you can ask for money instead of gifts for your birthday. That will allow you to save up quite some cash and give it all to charity. We don’t think that your guests will mind giving you monetary gifts, especially not when you tell them how you’re planning to use them. Still, if you need some extra guidance for this topic, we can recommend our article on How to Ask for Money Instead of Gifts for Birthday.

If you want to ditch the entire gift-giving thing altogether, we say go for it! Introduce your friends and family members to the idea of volunteering for your birthday or other event and holiday. You can all help so much with presence and love. For a particular topic, take a look at this article: How to Tell Someone No More Gifts.

Sometimes Love is All We Need

Spending Time with Orphans

If you can’t give anything material to the orphans, you can still help, and quite some. Have you considered spending time with those little girls and boys? One of the things they lack the most is family love, so giving them family time is always a perfect gift. You should think about spending time with them as much as you can because that could significantly improve their life and make them happier. Not to mention how it can positively influence their development, from social to cognitive skills.

For example, you can gather up your family and do something different this year instead of standard family dinner for Christmas. You can volunteer and spend a day with orphans. That will most certainly make them super happy! We included more suggestions in the following article: Alternative Christmas Ideas for Families.

Or, if you’re wondering What to Do Instead of Secret Santa, you can always organize a gift exchange in an orphanage. Pick up children’s names earlier that month, give them to your family and friends, and shop with them for the best presents. That way, you get to give children Christmas presents and also spend time with them in a fun way.

Also, if you have children, try to include them in volunteering. That will help not only orphans but your children too. This way, they’ll develop a sense of caring for orphans and people in general. We don’t have to mention how much that will mean for parentless children.

Children Can Help Too

Including Your Child in the Activities

Yes, your child can help orphans too. You should even encourage her or him to do so.

Here are some suggestions on how can children help orphans:

• Encourage your child to write letters. Many orphans would love to get packages, letters, and cards from across the world. It will put smiles on their faces and encourage them to write back. That’s how unique and truly beautiful friendships can develop, and your child will have a feeling of making a difference in the world.
• Encourage your child to draw and make something for orphans. It’s a creative and simple way of making a gift that can mean the world to someone.
• Plan a child’s birthday or some other event in an orphanage. This way, you’ll provide lots of fun for orphans and your child too, not to mention how they’ll become friends and develop beautiful relationships.

Conclusion

First of all, let us say how wonderful it is that you want to help orphans in any way you can. There are so many children around the world that need help, and if we all try to help, we’ll make a big difference. Secondly, we hope our article helps you find a way to help in the best possible way, and according to your capabilities.

In the end, there’s one thing you should always keep in mind. Giving gifts to orphans is an excellent idea. We encourage you to do it whenever you can.  However, those children would give up all the stuff for a family. They need a father, mother, brother, sister, grandparents. Therefore, try to spend as much time as you can with orphans. Show them your love and support. Have fun with them, play games, learn new things, and include them in your life. That is the best way you can help! That is the answer to the question of how to make orphans happy.