My hometown has been badly affected by a flood, and we've been out of work all week. Almost everyone that has stayed safe and dry has spent most of the week volunteering (we have an awesome community!). I've seen lots of kids as young as 3 helping out. It got me thinking--what are some great ways that you can teach your kids about community and service? What are some service opportunities that you feel are appropriate for preschoolers or toddlers? How young is too young?
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@babypugs: The most success we've had is with picking up litter! We have to do it together though, because people throw some nasty/dangerous stuff on the sidewalk/streets around here!!
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@mrbee: That's a great idea! Kids already love picking up everything when they're walking...
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@babypugs: We bought a little litter picker upper thing, kind of a robot claw sorta deal. I have my kids hold the trash bags and point out the trash, and then I grab it with the claw and put it in the trash bag of the kid who spotted the litter!
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This might not be exactly what you're thinking about...but, I think it's nice when younger people go visit and volunteer at long-term care facilities. Even just visiting/chatting can really go a long way to brighten someone's day!
I also know that older adults tend to really enjoy this (oftentimes they rarely see younger people, especially children).
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I don't volunteer as much now as I would like to in the future but I do charity shoots occasionally and when LO is old enough to be helpful for an hour (5 or 6 maybe?) I'll take her with me so she can see what I do and why we do it. Also when she's a bit older I plan to have her help me shop for toys for charity and drop them off.
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I've brought my son to a beach clean up, he had a blast, he was around 2.5 at the time.
You can do walk a thons, there are always things like that going on where I live.
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I don't think any age is too young to volunteer! The more you do it, the more a normal part of life it is. LO and I have done a lot of animal involved volunteering since she was very little. Buying food for shelters (LO gets to pick out the food, we take it in together, etc), dog rescue transport together and more. We go through her toys and clothes to pick things out to give (works best to have her pick through things that no longer fit, are "baby" toys, etc). We also shop angel trees for toys, and LO gets to pick them out and "helps" me wrap them. We do similar for charity food drives - I tell LO what we need and she gets it off the shelf at the store, etc.
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@winter_wonder: @looch: @yoursilverlining: Y'all, these are all wonderful ideas! I agree; the earlier the better, and these are opportunities that won't hinder anyone else. I guess I was worried about her being in the way or causing slow downs, but these are all totally doable.
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A few other ideas - have LO help bake cookies and take them to your local fire/police station. Do something nice for one of your neighbors - shovel snow or rake leaves. Make packets with travel sized toiletries and a few snacks to give to the homeless.
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9 comments