Kindergarten Community Service Projects
Teaching your kindergarten students values such as compassion and the importance of community can help them to become aware of the world around them and how they can make it a better place. Getting your students involved in community service projects can benefit both the school and general community. Undertaking simple, practical, and age-appropriate service projects can promote and build the foundation for life-long community involvement.
Other People Are Reading
-
Valentines for Vets
-
Get the creative juices of your kindergarten students flowing with paint, crayons and glue by making Valentine Day cards for veterans. There are programs that distribute Valentines to veterans living in long-term care facilities or attending outpatient clinics. Encourage students to draw or paint happy images to thank veterans for their past service to their country. Prepare the Valentines well in advance so they can be distributed to veterans before Valentine's Day.
Food Drive
-
Organizing a food drive can promote the importance of community service among your kindergarten students. Organize a classroom food drive and encourage children to bring in food donations or small cash donations. Contact your local food bank first to determine what food items they will accept and need the most. Discuss with your students about the role that food banks play in the community. Before the food drive concludes, arrange for a staff member or volunteer from your local food bank to pick up the donations and to talk your class about the importance of making regular donations.
-
Spring Cleanup
-
Involve your students in keeping their environment clean and litter-free by participating in the Great American Cleanup. You can involve students in this yearly nationwide campaign by organizing small, but effective, events such as cleaning litter from the school grounds, hosting a recycling drive, starting a school-wide composting program, or planting trees on the playground or in the community. Encourage students to use reusable containers to carry their lunch and snack items, instead of using disposable items such as plastic bags.
Sponsoring a Child
-
Sponsoring a child in the developing world can teach your kindergarten students not only about the world around them, but compassion. Children can donate toward the monthly sponsorship costs by giving small donations each month. There are organizations such as World Vision and Child Fund International that can help you find a child to sponsor. If it unfeasible for your class to sponsor a child, donate disaster relief funds or make a general donation to these organizations.
-
References
- Cherokee Phoenix: Valentines for Vets Drive
- Veteran Affairs Canada: Valentines for Vets
- Feeding America: Food and Food Drives
- Great American Cleanup: 20 Tips for Maintaining Safe, Clean, Healthy Communities
- World Vision: Sponsoring A Child Is the Most Powerful Way You Can Fight Poverty
- Child Fund International
- Photo Credit girls in kindergarten image by Pavel Losevsky from Fotolia.com
