April 7 is Volunteer Day! Stars0 reviews (Do you like this day? Rate it!)

Volunteer Day Volunteer day is a great opportunity to teach your child about the importance of helping others. A volunteer can be anyone who spends time helping a person, a place, or an organization - from checking on an elderly neighbor every day or working in a soup kitchen at Thanksgiving. Read the activities below to help find ways to volunteer.

Books & Videos | Choose A Project | Volunteer Scrapbook | Volunteer Guide |

Books & Videos
  Nights of the Pufflings Nights of the Pufflings by Bruce McMillan
The children on Heimaey Island in Iceland help pufflings make their way toward the open sea.
  Be Good to Eddie Lee Be Good to Eddie Lee by Virginia Fleming
Christie learns about friendship from Eddie Lee, her neighbor who has Down?s Syndrome.

Choose A Project

The first step is to choose a volunteer project that fits your family's need. Here's some ideas on how to determine your family's volunteer project:

   
How To Make:
 

Get together
Find a time to get together to talk about project ideas.

Brainstorm a list of people or organizations you'd like to help
What kinds of things do you like to do? Do you like to be outdoors, spend time with animals, collect things? What are you good at? Do you enjoy working with people or working with your hands? Is there a particular cause you feel passionate about? There are so many different ways to volunteer - helping animals, people who are sick, the environment, people who are hungry or homeless, people with disabilities, seniors, kids, or helping in your neighborhood.

How often are you able to volunteer?
It could be once a week, month, or year. Start with a one-time project. You may want to try out a variety of organizations before you commit to one on an on-going basis.

Find a project that meets your needs
Here are some links and ideas:
www.familycares.org - Discover over 60 hands-on family volunteering projects.
www.idealist.org/kat/familyvolunteer.html - Read about the benefits of family volunteering and search a database of family volunteering opportunities.
Adopt a 'Grandfriend' - Does your family know an older person who may be lonely or need help with daily chores? You can help by making a new friend that you can visit one or more times a month.
Pet Party - A really fun way to help out animals is by having a pet party. Your guests can bring food or supplies for an animal shelter instead of presents!
A Penny Drive - You can help out an organization by having a penny drive to raise money.
^ top

Volunteer Scrapbook

As you start to volunteer, keep a family volunteering scrapbook. You can record what you did, how you felt, and what you learned. Add drawings, photos and special memories!
Volunteer Scrapbook

   
^ top

Volunteer Guide

  Volunteer Guide Read lots more in the volunteer guide from PBS Kids. (click on the logo)
 
^ top