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Step 1
Many communities have community gardens where people gather to weed and tend the garden, the idea being that the vegetables grown in the garden goes to food shelves or to soup kitchens. Students can get into groups and weed rows of vegetables or even pick vegetables for use in such setting.
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Step 2
Food bank work can be a simple task for elementary students. Boxes of food can be offloaded and stacked into appropriate places at the food bank. Several students can do this task at once under the supervision of the teacher and food shelf staff. This can be arranged by contacting the local or nearest food bank to the school.
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Step 3
Raking and tending to the lawns of the elderly is another task that this age group can do. There are neighborhood programs that allow elementary age students to help out. Several students can donate rakes and perhaps clippers to neaten up the front and back lawns of one or more elderly persons living near the school.
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Step 4
Elementary students can give out Christmas gifts at a local nursing homes. Many nursing homes welcome the support and presence of school-aged children, and the holidays are no exception. Children can buy small gifts appropriate for a nursing home resident, and a group can go to the nursing home over the holidays with wrapped gifts to share with the residents. It teaches the children a lot about the elderly and how to treat them and puts them in a giving spirit for the holidays.
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Step 5
Soup kitchens often take volunteers of students who clean up the tables after the patrons, or even hand out sandwiches and other items. It helps teach children about poverty and the value of helping those less fortunate than themselves.
