Cultivate an interest, whether it’s a collection of bottlecaps, cards, and dolls or growing a garden of vegetables or flowers. Not only will your child learn responsibility from caring about their treasured collection of growing plants or collectibles, but she will also gain significant insights into empathy and cause and effect.

The more we invest of ourselves and care for something or someone, the richer and bigger our lives become. We learn not just to plant something to survive, but to bloom.

Try This At Home: Plant seeds of ideas that will bear fruit in the future. Plan a garden, or grow a single plant from seeds. Play with a friend’s puppy or kitten for the day. Collect change in a jar to give to a charity. Recycle old materials like buttons and magazines by using them to build new works of art. Buttons can be used to make necklaces or glued into patterns on a picture frame. Pictures can be cut out of old publications to make a collage.