Community service is something that everyone should do, regardless of age, lifestyle, or profession. Here, we will have a look at some ideas for kids regarding community service.
Contrary to what many people believe, community service is not something that is reserved exclusively for adults, charity workers, or penalized celebrities. It is something that even kids, youngsters, and teenagers can do in their spare time.
In fact, there are some schools and academic institutions that have laid down fixed number of hours of community service, which are mandatory to be undertaken by the students.
Interesting Ideas
There are plenty of opportunities for community service related to children. Some of them can be individual activities, while quite a few of them happen to be group activities, or those that can be performed by the entire family itself.
From cleaning the neighborhood or mowing a lawn, to helping out in a daycare center; the possibilities are endless. Here are some categorized community service projects for kids.
Environment-based
✔ Conducting or participating in a mass 'tree plantation drive' on a regular basis.
✔ Undertaking a cleanliness drive, and picking up garbage and litter from parks, neighborhood streets, nearby hillocks, etc.
✔ Improving the appearance of your local garden or neighborhood park by planting special saplings or flowers. ✔ Inspecting public places like bus stops, sidewalk benches, etc., and examining whether they are broken and in need of any repair work.
✔ Conducting environment awareness and anti-pollution drives, and promoting the use of cycles and public transport.
Services for the Senior Citizens
✔ Paying a fortnightly visit to old age and retirement homes, and spending quality time with all the elderly people.
✔ Providing other essential help, like arranging for reading glasses, comfortable armchairs, walkers, blankets, woolen clothing, books, etc. ✔ Collecting old clothes from neighborhood houses and donating them to old age homes or the needy.
✔ Sending greeting cards or gifts during festivals to people in these homes.
✔ Baking some treats for senior citizens who live alone in retirement homes.
For the Less Privileged
✔ Donating old textbooks and other educational material to needy children. ✔ Donating food, medicines, and other essential commodities to poor families and victims of natural disasters.
✔ Making homemade Christmas gifts, and distributing them among the needy people, orphaned children, and the homeless.
✔Volunteering to teach some computer basics to such kids in your locality. Even school or college students can start up with tutoring programs to help them.
Other Community Service Ideas
✔Writing letters or sending greetings to old war veterans and retired soldiers in your locality.
✔ Forming a group, and sending a joint note of thanks to the emergency services, paramedics, local police officers, firefighters, etc.
✔ Mowing a lawn belonging to an elderly couple. ✔ Volunteering to help in the cleaning and maintenance of your neighborhood animal shelter.
✔ Circulating fliers that request people to follow and abide by all the basic traffic rules and household safety precautions. ✔ Form a musical group, and conduct a musical performance for the elderly, who live in old age homes. It'll make them feel good.
✔ Volunteer to teach a subject at Sunday school. ✔ Form a group, prepare a basic map of your locality, and put it up in a central location. It will prove to be beneficial for people who are new to the area.
This was a brief overview on community services that kids can take part in. Remember, when it comes to children, inculcating the habit of doing this service at an early age is always beneficial. It makes them mature, and all the more responsible towards society.