Sporty-themed Shoeboxes

Sports-themed shoeboxes

The 2012 London Olympics is only just around the corner, so we’ve decided to get into the Olympic spirit as part of this year’s Operation Christmas Child campaign.

How? Through sports-themed shoeboxes, of course!

As well as giving you the chance to do something a bit different with your shoeboxes, this is also your chance to send a few sporty items out to needy children in our world – children who might otherwise not have the chance to experience the joy of sport for themselves.

Make your shoebox sports-themed
There are several ways you can give your shoebox an Olympic twist this year…

GIFTS: Along with gifts you would usually send, you might want to include a tennis ball, skipping rope, baseball hat, small football, inflatable beach ball, stop watch, sweat bands, toy medals or some other sports-related gift that would bring a smile to a child!

BOX: You could even decorate your shoebox with Olympic stickers, drawings or try and get hold of special Olympics wrapping paper (if indeed such a thing exists!)

MESSAGE: You might want to add a message to your child, stating that the shoebox has come from the home of the next Olympics and that you hope they enjoy the sports items you’ve included in your box for them to play with.

Make your shoebox event sports-themed!

We're teaming up with More Than Gold www.morethangold.org.uk to encourage churches to host sports-themed shoebox events in the run-up to the 2012 London Olympics.
You might want to arrange some fun, Olympic-themed activities for participants – like a shoebox relay race, a shoebox long jump, or even shoebox throwing! (OK, some of these ideas may require empty shoeboxes…just in case!). It might just mean giving your celebration a sporty feel!

Schools, workplaces and community groups can also give your shoebox events an Olympic feel. You might want to take a picture of your shoeboxes arranged as the Olympics logo; or arrange your shoeboxes to appear as if they are taking part in an Olympic event themselves. We would love to see your pictures!

These are just a few ideas – but you’ll probably have even more! If you do, email them to marketing@samaritans-purse.org.uk along with any photos of your sports-themed shoeboxes or events.