How To Teach Kids To Be The Change You Want To See In The World
These 7 ideas and activities will help you teach your kids to be the change you want to see in the world. They’ll learn about kindness, doing good, and giving back to the community and the world. And they just might help you learn a bit in the process too.
I have to admit - as a mom of four, homeschooler, lacrosse and basketball mom, and the wearer of a few other hats, I can get a little overwhelmed at all there is to teach my kids.
The things I want them to learn seems endless. Everything from multiplication tables to how to do laundry.
But, some of the most important lessons have little to do with math equations or grammar rules.
Nothing tops the list more assuredly than just the simple idea that they can do good in the world. The lesson that you get way more than you give when you decide to be the change you want to see in the world. The idea that kindness always wins, even when the world shows you the opposite.
I think those are ideas that also fuel our desire to go on travel adventures with our kids. Because being out of their element, seeing new places and different cultures seems to me to teach the lesson that we’re all a little more alike than we are different. Experiencing things outside of their bubble helps them know we’re all kind of in this together.
I’m always looking for ways to teach the lessons of being the change you hope to see in the world and spreading good ole’ fashioned kindness.
And you know there’s a strange thing that happens when you aim to teach something so important, right? You tend to learn even more than you taught.
These 7 ideas and activities helped me teach my kids … and myself… about giving back to the community, being the change, and kindness.
Be The Change You want to see in the World… At Home.
Teaching kindness and encouraging a desire to give back to the community sometimes is a little easier with a bit of planning. We’ve got some activities that work for our family. Hope they’re useful to you too!
While we all know that some of the best lessons are learned right in your very own home, sometimes putting that into action is easier said than done.
I mean, don’t get me wrong.
I love the idea of having a lesson about forgiveness when the pottery I got on my honeymoon gets smashed in a thousand pieces. Or a lesson about using our inside voices when the house is so loud the neighbors can hear us and I’m on an important Zoom call. Or even a lesson about saying kind things to one another when it’s the end of a long day and there are some ugly words being tossed back and forth between kids.
But, sometimes, I’ve learned, those are not the best times for lessons.
What does often work for us though is planning ahead to teach those lessons. Rather than waiting until I’m in the moment of chaos, having a few fun activities that I put in my back pocket a bit earlier works better for me.
We also have loved teaching kindness and being the change you want to see in the world through:
a chore chart. Chore charts have helped our kids learn that helping is expected. And that sure does feel like kindness;
a kindness calendar like THIS one designed by the the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation;
a family gratitude journal;
a kindness jar like the one found in the book The Kindness Snippet Jar by Diane Alber.
Read Books That Teach About Giving Back And Embracing Other Cultures.
Great books teach even better lessons. And inspiring kids to be the change you want to see in the world is sometimes a matter of finding a book they love.
Dr. Seuss said it best when he said, “oh, the places you’ll go” when you read a book. Books have the ability to transport us anywhere within the pages of the story.
In fact, reading is a metaphor for travel in so many ways. And while I know I’ll never make it to all of the places on my travel bucket list (girl, you should see the size of that list!) I can “go” to many of them in a book.
I feel like it’s only natural then to turn to books to help us teach kids about the world around us. And part of that teaching involves lessons on giving back to the community.
My book bucket list for my kids is probably every bit as long as my travel bucket list. But some of my favorite books about teaching kids about charity and community service can be found HERE on A Mighty Girl. Or for more suggestions, head to my post about good books for kids of all ages when you’re stuck at home HERE.
Get Crafty to Give Back To The Community.
Got a kid who loves to make things? Put those things to good use and encourage kids to give back to the community at the same time.
The idea that giving is better than receiving is something that may seem lost on kids. Or is it?
Have you ever seen more pride then when your kid hands you something that they worked long and hard on? I know that my kids probably couldn’t name the last present they received (you know - the one they begged for before they got it). But they light up when they’re asked about the latest thing they created that’s hanging on the family bulletin board or that they gave to someone else.
And tapping in on that pride that’s felt when someone works hard at something is also a great way to teach kids to give back to the community. There are so many great ways to create crafts that will brighten someone’s day. Our favorites have been making crafts or cards to take to local:
Nursing homes
Fire or police stations
Veteran’s homes
Hospitals
Animal shelters
Don’t forget that it’s not just the residents or patients who appreciate tokens of kindness. The staff at nursing and veteran’s homes, hospitals, and animal shelters also make great recipients of handmade cards and crafts from kids.
You can also check out Cardz for Kidz and Cards for Hospitalized Kids(CFHK), two organizations that are dedicated to delivering handmade cards to those who are in need of a little hope throughout the world.
Organize A Clothing, Shoe, Or Food Drive.
You don’t need to be a part of a larger organization to organize a donation drive. Allowing kids to do it on their own (with your help) is such a great way to show them how to be the change you want to see in the world.
One of our family’s absolute favorite memories is our daughter’s experience doing a shoe drive for Soles4Souls.
It was a lesson, to not only her but me as well, that you’re never too young to be the change you hope to see in the world.
Prior to turning 11-years-old, my daughter decided to set a goal of collecting 1,100 pairs of shoes for the organization. We were overwhelmed by the support she received from her school as well as others in the community. And by the time her birthday rolled around, she had more than tripled her goal.
It was experience that she still remembers. And an experience that I know had a lasting impact.
While we love Soles4Souls, there are lots of organizations that work throughout the country or in your local community collecting clothes, shoes, or other items. Contacting one of them prior to starting a clothing, shoe, or food drive will help make sure you and your child are on the right path.
Then, don’t forget to have them reach out to classmates, your work colleagues, their sports teams, their schools or other groups of people they know. We found most people were more than willing to help!
Lastly, help your child use social media to really ensure they reach your goal.
Find a Place To volunteer Near Home… And Know This Part Doesn’t Have To Be Hard!
Sports teams, churches, and other organizations you’re probably already involved with likely have great opportunities for you and your kids to give back to the community. And if not, they would probably love for you to plan one. And you might just find volunteering to be catching!
So… by now you get it… some of the things that I know I want my family to focus on are gratitude and giving back to the community. And if you’re still reading along, I’m betting you do too.
But, let’s face it. Life gets busy.
And I worry that sometimes my family and I are so busy we’re not really focusing on those things.
But then I think back to some of my most vivid memories giving back when I was a child.
I remember my family volunteering to help serve food through a food canteen. I recall my family giving to some local families in need at Christmastime. I remember donating used toys. Always placing $1 in the Salvation Army bucket when we saw them outside a store. Handing my teacher extra money whenever yearbooks or something else was for sale so that we could buy whatever it was for a kid in the class who couldn’t afford it.
My point is none of these acts of kindness or ways of giving back to the community were huge things. We didn’t volunteer for the food canteen every week for years. We weren’t placing hundreds in the Salvation Army bucket. And we didn’t buy the whole class yearbooks every year.
Rather, these were small acts of giving back that made a huge impact on me. Because now, many years later, I still remember them.
Likewise, although I would love to say my family and I are spending countless hours every week volunteering or giving back now that I have my own kids, we’re not. But what we are doing are small things that I know are having a big impact on my kids. I know those small acts are fueling my kids desire to continue to give back because they’re talking about them long after we do them and seeking out other ways to volunteer.
So, if you’re able to give big through long hours of volunteering, first of all, know that I want to be you when I grow up! Seriously! You rock! Second of all, kudos and good on you! That’s fantastic! Keep at it!
But even if you’re not able to give big as a local volunteer, know that small acts of giving back really do make a huge impact in the community and in instilling altruism in your kiddos.
Helping with a project at your school or homeschool co-op, spending a day participating in a service project with your church, or even helping with your kids’ sports team fundraising as a family are great ways to get started volunteering locally. You’re likely to find it’s catching and you’ll be volunteering more than you thought.
Find A Place To Volunteer Not So Close To Home.
Mission and service related trips can be a bucket list way to teach kids to be the change you want to see in the world. With knowledge on what to expect and how to make it truly beneficial to those you aim to help, you might be surprised at the lasting effects.
Mark Twain once said, “Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” And while I wouldn’t say today’s fast-paced world allows for much vegetating, I do think travel can be a huge factor in the “be the change you want to see in the world” equation.
Traveling on a mission or service related trip was something I always knew I wanted to do. And when I had the chance to do that and take my daughter, it was a win-win.
But that doesn’t mean that I took my decision to travel on a service related trip lightly. In fact, there was a fair amount of overthinking… er, careful consideration… that went into it.
And in looking into mission trips, or voluntourism as it’s sometimes called, I found that such trips are often met with a hefty dose of criticism.
“Hefty” as in I almost scrapped the whole trip altogether.
But, that didn’t seem to be the answer either. Doing nothing seemed to make me part of the problem, not part of the solution,
So what I did instead was arm myself with the knowledge to make an informed decision about my mission trip. We learned how to plan the most meaningful mission trip. And we educated ourselves on how to make our service trip a tool for helping and not harming those we were aiming to help.
So, while I don’t think you need to travel far from home to give back, having an opportunity to do so can be an amazing experience.
For us, our mission trip (with One More Child) sparked our family to continue to give back in more meaningful ways. It was a fantastic tool in teaching our kids to be the change you want to see in the world.
Be The Change You Want to See In The World By Sponsoring A Child In Need.
Supporting a family or child in another country through a sponsorship program is a meaningful way to give back. And a great way for kids to feel connected with the world around them.
A rewarding and easy way we’ve been able to give back and teach our kids about what it’s like to grow up in another country is by sponsoring children through a nonprofit that works with kids in need around the world.
The child sponsorship program we support works with children and families in both the US and several countries broad. They provide food, clothes, school supplies, medicine, and educational opportunities through the program.
We receive periodic pictures and updates on the children we sponsor.
And those updates always spark great conversations with my kids about the country the kids are from, what we have in common with them, and how the places we live are different.
We chose to go with One More Child for our child sponsorship choice and we feel confident the money we donate is being used responsibly. Charity Navigator also ranks other popular programs, including the Child Fund, Save the Children, World Vision, and Children’s Cup. There are many programs and it’s important to find one that aligns with your goals and preferences.
