Volunteering…Compassion Building in Children

The following article is reprinted with the permission of Kelly Palmatier as it appears with the title of Volunteering with Children on the site, compassionatekids.com

Volunteering with children is a great way to help them learn about giving back. Children learn valuable skills while “on the job.” Home schooled students, who may have more time available for volunteering, could also enjoy the additional socialization opportunities presented through volunteering. Another benefit of volunteering is children learn about the concerns of the organization and what need it fills in the community. Consequently, the children also have an opportunity to remember what they have to be thankful for.

Work Together

It’s important to work side-by-side when volunteering with your child, since leading by example has been shown to be the most effective form of teaching. Children who see their parents volunteering are much more likely to believe in the value of working to help others.

Naturally, working side-by-side with your child will allow you to assist him/her when necessary, ensuring the child’s presence is a help, not a hindrance to the organization’s staff and other volunteers.

An additional benefit of working with your child as a volunteer is the bonding that occurs when people work together as a team. Also, when people are focused on a task, it sometimes fosters deep conversations that may not have occurred with more direct eye contact.

Consider the Right Opportunity

When choosing a volunteering opportunity, it’s important to consider the following:

• Your Child’s Interests
• Your Interests
• Your Child’s Abilities
• Your Abilities
• Location, Frequency, & Duration
• Staff Attitude

Your Child’s Interests

If your child is clearly interested in a subject, it may be possible to use that interest as a springboard into volunteering: Children who construct a lot of forts or buildings with blocks may enjoy helping out a construction organization such as Habitat for Humanity; children who love animals my enjoy volunteering with animal organizations such as the Humane Society.

Your Interests

It’s also important to consider your own interests. Children look to their parents to help them discern how to respond to new stimuli. If you are bored while volunteering, your child will associate boredom with volunteering. Alternately, if you are passionate about your actions, your child will respond to that passion.

Your Child’s Abilities

If your child is very young, it can be challenging to choose a volunteering opportunity that he/she can actually help with. Fortunately, there are opportunities available that even very young children can do with a little parental guidance.

I started volunteering with my children when they were three and six years old. My older child could follow basic directions well with a small amount of supervision. However, my three-year-old was an energetic little boy with a young child’s motor skills and attention span.

We were able to be successful volunteering at a local food pantry, where his sorting and counting skills worked quite well with close supervision and direction from me. I gave simple tasks such as taking two boxes of macaroni & cheese from a shelf and putting them in each grocery bag. He was able to complete these tasks easily, while I added all the remaining groceries.

Your Abilities

Just as your child will learn from your passion for volunteering, he/she will benefit from seeing you work well in your element. For example, if you are especially skilled at home renovations, you may find a community restoration project to work on. This would allow you to share your skills while demonstrating the relevance volunteering has to many different careers and interests.

Location, Frequency, & Duration

Of course, it’s important to consider the basic logistics of any volunteering opportunity. If the opportunity is close by, a commitment to help out on a weekly basis may be fine. If it’s farther away, you may need to commit to helping on a monthly basis instead. It’s fine to increase your volunteering later, after you’ve tried it out and you know it works well for you, but be careful not to over-commit initially. Remember your child is already learning work ethics from this experience. You’ll want to ensure you arrive in a timely manner when you’re expected, only canceling or rescheduling when you truly have valid reasons and can give plenty of notice.

Consider, too, the duration of each volunteer session. Older children may be fine with a few hours or more. However, younger children may need sessions to be kept short.

We found our one-hour volunteer session at the food pantry each week worked well during the first 30 to 45 minutes of fast-paced grocery bag-filling. However, the remaining 15 to 30 minutes of shelf-restocking were slow-paced enough that the three-year-old had trouble staying focused. It was an invitation for chaos. We handled it by simply leaving earlier until he was a little older and better-able to handle a full hour of volunteer work at a time.

Staff Attitude

The last item to consider is the attitude of other volunteers and the organization’s staff. Most people will appreciate your instilling a volunteer ethic in children at a young age, but you may find a few “sour apples” who focus more on the decibel level or other potential distractions. (In fact, many organizations may prohibit children under a certain age.)

To some extent, the mission you’re on is more important than any individuals who may not appreciate your child’s input. However, be sure to consider the effect others’ attitudes have on your child. If a child feels like a hindrance, volunteering will end up seeming like a chore rather than a joy.

Resources for Finding Volunteer Opportunities

There are many ways you can learn about volunteering opportunities, including the following:

• Check with Keep America Beautiful or other local organizations for community clean-up days.
• Consider raising vegetables or starting a canned food drive for your local food pantry.
• Check with local nursing homes for “toddler days.”
• Take on home baking projects for fundraising bake sales or meal delivery services.
• Ask your local Chamber of Commerce for information about local organizations that may have volunteer opportunities.
• Call non-profit organizations you like and ask what you can do. They may have needs/volunteer opportunities that you haven’t even thought of.
• Check for opportunities listed in national volunteer website databases such as VolunteerMatch.org (has a designation for kid-friendly opportunities) or Idealist.org (has designations for teen opportunities and under-age-12 opportunities).

As with most parental/educational pursuits, there are many factors to consider regarding volunteering with children, but a little effort can provide a lifetime of benefit for both the kids involved and for society.