Self Organizing - Baby Showers and Baby Bags

Overview
Many low-income and teen mothers are in need of basic baby necessities when their baby is born.  Your family can assemble a beautiful baby bag with all of the necessities a newborn needs by hosting a baby shower to gather the items and assemble a baby bag.

Goals

• To help impoverished moms with practical newborn necessities
• To learn about community needs and to connect with agencies that serve moms and newborns.
• To develop compassion for the people you are serving

Supporting Organizations

• Local Department of Children, and Families and Human Services
• Low income clinic
• Homeless shelters
• Department of Education, if they have a program for teen moms

Materials

• New baby bag – can be a diaper bag, canvas bag, or pink or blue backpack, or
• New wicker or plastic laundry basket
• New bottles
• New baby ointments, shampoo and lotion
• New diapers and diaper wipes
• New pacifiers, teething toy or new stuffed animal
• New or gently used:
  • Receiving blankets
  • T-shirts
  • Pajamas and sleepers
  • Baby towels and washcloths
  • Socks
  • Hats, sweaters
  • Crib sheets
• Homemade “Welcome Baby” card
• Decorative ribbon (optional)
• Paper,  markers , scissors, stickers (optional)

Instructions

• Connect with an appropriate agency or hospital and tell them about your project to ensure they can accept your donation of baby bags. Each participant should plan to make 6-8 full bags.
• Decide if you will try and collect from local merchants or if your families will donate all items.
• Plan to host a baby shower with other families. Make an invitation and include the list of items you are requesting to make the baby bags or baskets.
• Consider inviting a representative from an agency serving these moms to speak about the needs of the moms and their newborns.
• Discuss with your children why you are assembling the baby bags. Younger children can be helpful with sorting the items and assembling bags and baskets.
• Assemble the baby bags and baskets.  Do not include any stained or ripped items with broken snaps or zippers. 
• Create a card that congratulates the mom and welcomes the new baby.
• Deliver your baby bags to the agency you have chosen.

Additional Resources

What to Expect When the New Baby Comes Home (What to Expect Kids) by Heidi Murkoff and Laura Rader
Angus the talking dog answers questions for kids on what to expect when a new baby comes home!

Preflection
After you read one of the suggested books or the Homelessness Facts for Kids sheet to your children and before you do the project, you can use the following questions to talk about the issue of being a new mom with few economic resources.  Discussing the issue is the key to helping your children develop empathy and compassion for the people that will receive your volunteer donation.

1. Discuss what types of items a newborn baby needs and how much they cost.
2. Can you imagine bringing a new baby home to a shelter?
3. Discuss the meaning of the word, shelter. (1 a : something that covers or protects; Merriam Webster Dictionary)
4. What kind of help could new mothers use to take care of their babies? (Food, clothing, etc.)
5. What can our family do to help impoverished new mothers?

Reflection
After your volunteer project, it is important for families to reflect on their experiences.  Choose one of the Reflection Activities from the list below.

Magic Wand – This activity uses the concept of a magic wand to help children talk about and reflect on their volunteer experience.  Have your family sit in a circle.  Tell everyone that you have just found a magic wand that allows you to grant wishes, and pose the questions, “If you could grant a wish to one person, who would it be, and what do you think he or she would wish for?”  “How do you think what we did today will make someone feel, and how do you think that is similar to granting a wish?”

Family Pictionary – Have each member of the family take turns drawing something about their volunteer experience and how they felt about it.  While each person is drawing, have everyone else try to guess what the picture represents.  After each picture is drawn, the artist should talk about the picture and why they chose to draw it.