In order for kids to learn to serve they need to see it in action. Parents can not teach service without modeling it. Find ways that you can serve through your job, your church or other community organizations. Take your kids along when it is appropriate. Find ways that even the youngest children can pitch in on your projects. 

Kids also need to see you serving in ways that may not bring you kudos or a free t-shirt. Look for ways outside of formal projects and organizations where you can serve. Help a neighbor with a project, reach out to the elderly in your area to serve them personally. Kids learn to respect other generations by getting to know those people. 

Whether it is in private or public find ways to serve as a family. Join organizations that are feeding people during holidays. Be a part of a trash pickup or toy drive. Find projects where every family member can be helpful.

If you do the first few things on this list then you will have to deal with raising a kid that gets excited about serving. Encourage their enthusiasm. They may not raise a million dollars for the Muscular Dystrophy Foundation with their lemonade stand but they are learning to serve through their own initiative, that could teach them to be a world changer even when they are only raising a few bucks right now. Look at their small projects as an investment towards some possible bigger things in the future. 

We don’t serve because of praise. We don’t serve because we are better than others. We serve because we can and there is a need. Kids need to learn to serve even if nobody ever notices or praises them. Service to others makes the a better place. Service to others makes us (and your kids) better people. 

Opening doors for people. Offering to help someone load their groceries. Help someone with a flat or a breakdown. There are all kinds of small ways you can serve others on a daily basis. Look for those opportunities to serve and your children will not only see it but it will probably give them a reason to ask questions about it as well. 

When you see crisis situations on TV, when folks are in the news for something that happened to them ask your kids how you could help. Kids need to learn that there are ways that help people (buying clothes for fire victims) and there are ways that are not truly helpful (sending them all of your torn up clothes). 

If you budget for going out to eat or entertainment, put money in your budget to buy a meal for a family in need. Have money in your budget to buy a meal or food for a homeless person instead of passing out spare change. It is good to give in a bigger way for large projects but a few dollars each month can really help those around you and teach your child that there are ways to serve daily.

You may have friends and family that are not in dire straits. They need to be served as well. Even if someone can afford a babysitter, perhaps you could watch their kids instead (as a family). Service is not just for those with the greatest need. By serving those with some of the same means, you teach your child that we serve everybody not just those who are less fortunate than us. 

Your family may not be able to airlift food to a foreign country. You may not be able to take in every orphan or displace family. There are organizations that can take many smaller contributions and use them to do really big work. Find an organization that is working on a big scale and support them with whatever you can afford. Every dollar adds up.