Shoebox Ideas

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For the past 21 years, Operation Christmas Child has inspired millions of UK schoolchildren with the joy of giving to children in impoverished places like Liberia and Ukraine. Read on to find out how your pupils can experience the excitement of sending a shoebox filled with gifts to children in need this Christmas.

Another benefit of Operation Christmas Child is that it helps teachers meet the increasing demands of the school curriculum by fulfilling many requirements for personal and social education.  With Operation Christmas Child, you don’t have to take on any extra work to help children in need this Christmas – it can support what you are doing already.

Why Operation Christmas Child is 'teacher friendly'

• With the help of our FREE lesson plans for Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 for PSHCE, Geography and other subjects, Operation Christmas Child links directly into the school curriculum
  
  
• By engaging in this activity, children are able to make a real difference to the world in which they live; a key objective of the government’s Every Child Matters initiative
  
  
• With the help of our FREE School Council Guide , packed with practical tips and ideas for pupils, Operation Christmas Child is a great project for your School Council
  
  
• Our School Assembly ideas have lots of new ideas about how you can introduce Operation Christmas Child in primary schools 
  
  
• Participating in Operation Christmas Child can help your school fulfil a number of the criteria required for the International Schools Status/Award
  
  
• Secondary Schools in Wales have found that Operation Christmas Child fits in well with the Community Participation part of the Welsh Baccalaureate

Check out our School Booklet for more on these and other ways to fit Operation Christmas Child into your curricular and extra-curricular activities.

Get started today!

Taking part in Operation Christmas Child is simple. Just follow these 3 steps...

1) Order your FREE resources, including our leaflets to help your schoolchildren pack their shoebox.

2) Invite your schoolchildren to pack their shoeboxes - either at home or collectively at school - and make a £2.50 donation to ensure their shoebox gets to where it needs to go.

3) We will then give you a call - to arrange for your shoeboxes to be collected from your school sometime after November 18th.

Don't forget! The deadline for getting your shoeboxes done this year is November 18th.

Other Resources

• Download a copy of our Operation Christmas Child PowerPoint - a simple way to explain how this appeal works to both teachers and pupils.
  
  
• Use our Mungo The Bear storybook to open the eyes of primary school-aged children to the world of a child in Africa. Download either as a PowerPoint or PDF.
  
  
• If you would like for someone to come and speak about Operation Christmas Child, please email info@samaritans-purse.org.uk.

Watch our new video!

Watch our inspiring new 7-min video, which follows the journey of shoeboxes from the hands of schoolchildren in the UK into the hands of school-aged children in the Ukraine and Liberia.