Service studying initiatives have turn out to be an necessary a part of college tradition, and for good motive. These actions get children concerned of their communities, growing empathy and a way of generosity. We’ve obtained mission concepts that are perfect for children of all ages, whether or not they’re engaged on their very own, as a category, or with their households. Have a look and get impressed!
New to service studying? Take a look at What Is Service Learning? and Service Learning 101: Making Learning Real and Relevant.
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Environmental and Out of doors Service Studying Tasks
1. Plant bushes
Be a part of the Arbor Day Tree Campus K-12 program and switch your college campus into an arboretum whereas educating different college students to turn out to be tree stewards for the long run.
2. Assist a park
Begin by taking a area journey to a close-by native, state, or national park. Discover what it has to supply, but additionally take into account what it must be even higher. Extra picnic tables? Higher interpretive indicators? Inclusive playground gear? A normal litter cleanup? College students can suggest these concepts to park officers and provide you with methods to make them occur.
3. Take part in citizen science
Citizen science initiatives are terrific service studying concepts. Plant a milkweed monarch waystation, start a pollinator garden to help bees, or assist track the progress of migrating species. You’ll discover much more citizen science projects for kids here.
Set up a roadside or park cleanup day, the place college students and neighborhood members collect to choose up litter and tidy your shared areas. Then, provide you with distinctive and inventive concepts to cease littering for good!
5. Host a trash-to-art present
Invite college students and members of the general public to upcycle outdated objects—even trash—into unimaginable artwork initiatives. If you happen to dwell in a coastal space, try the Washed Ashore program. You’ll be able to work with them to carry their present to your individual neighborhood.
6. Conduct an power audit
Assist your college buildings preserve power by evaluating the utilization of lights, computer systems, and different electrical gadgets. Or begin a marketing campaign to encourage households to conduct their very own power audits and make necessary modifications at house. Learn more from the U.S. Department of Energy.
7. Unfold the phrase on composting
Composting is an environment friendly manner to make use of up meals and natural waste and create wealthy, wholesome soil as a replacement. Work along with your meals providers division to create a compost pile at college, or educate households find out how to compost at house. You possibly can even arrange a neighborhood composting station. The EPA has good information to get you started.
8. Set up rain barrels
Preserve water by channeling rain into barrels to be used in watering gardens throughout drier days. Put them in at college for college gardens, or assist households create and set up rain barrels at house. Here’s how rain barrels work.
Extra Environmental and Out of doors Service Studying Concepts
- Create indicators to lift consciousness about recycling in public areas.
- Design a marketing campaign to scale back single-use plastics.
- Construct birdhouses or pollinator motels for native parks.
- Set up a clothes or toy swap to scale back waste.
- Paint storm drains with “Drains to River” reminders.
- Accumulate and recycle electronics responsibly.
- Develop a strolling/biking-to-school consciousness marketing campaign.
- Create posters to advertise water conservation.
- Undertake a freeway, park, or seaside for ongoing cleanup.
- Construct raised backyard beds for a neighborhood daycare or nursing house.
- Create a pollinator backyard for butterflies and bees.
- Set up an invasive-plant-species removing day.
- Develop an academic path with signage about native wildlife.
- Plant native flowers in uncared for public areas.
- Conduct a neighborhood air or water high quality survey and share outcomes.
- Accumulate used books to repurpose the pages into seed-starting pots.
- Create a “inexperienced suggestions” column for the varsity e-newsletter.
Faculty and Training Service Studying Tasks
26. Begin a faculty recycling program
Go inexperienced! Get all the resources you need to set up and run a stellar school recycling program here. Have already got one? Encourage college students to seek out methods to make it much more efficient.
Even when meals insecurity isn’t a problem, wholesome consuming typically is. Junk meals is commonly cheaper than wholesome meals, and many individuals don’t have prepared entry to a spot to develop their very own fruits and veggies. A college or neighborhood backyard lets children dig their palms into the soil and assist present some much-needed recent produce for others. The USDA has some tips here to help you get started.
28. Beautify your college
Does your college have a graffiti, trash, or vandalism drawback? Even when it doesn’t, we guess your hallways and grounds could possibly be somewhat brighter and extra welcoming. Give college students a way of possession by having them paint murals, decorate the hallways, or spruce up the bathrooms.
29. Battle bullying by empowering pupil upstanders
Essentially the most significant anti-bullying applications are those that college students begin themselves. Begin a service studying mission that evokes others to face as much as bullying once they see it. Here’s more about empowering student upstanders.
30. Participate within the St. Jude Math-a-Thon
The St. Jude Math-a-Thon is designed to work along with your college’s current curriculum. College students elevate cash from family and friends and clear up math issues in grade-specific Funbooks, developed by Scholastic. College students additionally learn the way math performs an necessary function within the lifesaving work occurring day by day at St. Jude.
31. Set up a guide drive
Studying Is Basic believes that each child deserves to learn to learn and to have books to take pleasure in. Team up with the organization to run a local book drive, and take a look at a few of their different volunteer alternatives too. Books for Africa is one other terrific group that wants your guide donations.
32. Present translation providers
Chances are high your college produces its communications in English alone. Nevertheless it’s seemingly that not everybody in your neighborhood speaks English fluently. Attain out to all members of your neighborhood by translating your college supplies into different languages spoken regionally. Children in international language lessons can do a number of the work themselves, or they will hunt down neighbors and buddies who would possibly be capable of assist.
33. Tutor or arrange peer mentoring applications
Older children serving to youthful children—what an effective way to construct a way of neighborhood! Pair up college students to create a buddy system, or manage a tutoring program run solely by children. Learn more about peer mentoring programs here.
Extra Faculty and Training Service Studying Concepts
- Create a homework assist membership.
- Set up a faculty provide drive for under-resourced colleges.
- Learn aloud to youngsters at a neighborhood daycare or library.
- Create instructional posters for lecture rooms (e.g., multiplication information).
- Develop digital literacy workshops for seniors.
- Set up a “STEM Day” with hands-on experiments for youthful grades.
- File audiobooks for visually impaired college students.
- Construct a Little Free Library locally.
- Interview native veterans and create a historical past mission.
- Companion with native museums to create instructional area journeys.
- Write and carry out instructional performs for elementary colleges.
- Begin a pen pal program with college students in one other area/nation.
- Educate youthful college students about web security.
- Host a math or science competitors.
- Create a tutoring hotline or on-line assist web site.
- Host a cultural honest to rejoice variety within the college neighborhood.
- Create an after-school membership to assist children be taught one thing new.
Well being and Wellness Service Studying Tasks
51. Practice information canines
Practice or foster information canines or assist with administrative duties for Guide Dogs for the Blind. Pet raisers may be any age, whether or not you’re 9 or 90. No prior expertise is critical!
52. Craft blankets for youths
Sew, knit, or crochet safety blankets for youngsters in hospitals or in any other case in want by way of Project Linus. Pair this mission with a guide or toy drive for sick children; teenagers may also look into volunteer alternatives at their native hospitals.
53. Run a meals drive
Meals insecurity stays a significant difficulty in our nation, and organizing a meals drive is a traditional service studying mission. Go to Feeding America to seek out organizations that want your assist.
54. Serve at a meals pantry
Many children can’t think about what it’s like not figuring out the place your subsequent meal will come from. Assist develop their sense of empathy by volunteering at meals pantries or soup kitchens. Make it a daily exercise to allow them to kind bonds with the area people members. FoodPantries.org has an inventory of locations that welcome volunteers.
55. Sculpt empty bowls to feed the hungry
This concept is an element artwork mission and half service studying. Children sculpt and beautify ceramic bowls, then use them to host a fundraising occasion that raises cash for native meals pantries and different organizations.
56. Maintain a hygiene drive
Meals isn’t the one necessity that some folks wrestle to offer for his or her households. In addition they want cleaning soap, toothpaste, deodorant, interval merchandise, and different hygiene provides. Work with native shelters to seek out out what they want, and maintain a drive to gather these objects. Or order a Soap Saves Lives Box and assemble kits to be distributed at native meals pantries or different places.
Children at the moment face a wide range of psychological well being challenges, however they’re additionally extra conscious of the significance of excellent psychological well being than earlier generations. College students who need to assist psychological well being amongst their friends can develop a service studying mission that makes an actual distinction. Discover empowering mental health activities for teens here.
58. Construct Jared Packing containers for hospitals
Sick children who spend a lot of time within the hospital welcome new methods to maintain busy. That’s the place Busy Boxes are available! Run a drive to gather small toys, video games, puzzles, and extra. Then package deal them up (for much more enjoyable, beautify the bins!) and donate them to youngsters’s hospitals and different amenities that assist sick children.
59. Begin Meatless Mondays
Meatless Mondays aren’t about selling vegetarianism or veganism. They’re merely a technique to encourage us all to think about the affect consuming meat has on the planet (it would shock you!). Children can strive Meatless Mondays at house, plus work with their college cafeteria to supply meals with out meat that day too. Learn about the Meatless Monday campaign here.
60. Host a St. Jude Trike-a-Thon
Preschool and daycare youngsters will find out about trike and riding-toy security and the significance of serving to others, all whereas having enjoyable and incomes prizes. Launched in 1983, St. Jude Trike-a-Thon fundraisers present educators with a weeklong curriculum that features a sequence of interactive classes with two charming characters, Bikewell Bear and Pedals the Bunny. Instructional supplies—storybooks, movies, and coloring books—that assist studying are additionally supplied. All of this provides an academic bent to your large trike occasion and your efforts for St. Jude! Click here to find out more.
Extra Well being and Wellness Service Studying Concepts
- Begin a lunchtime strolling membership.
- Set up a sports activities gear drive for underserved children.
- Create a mindfulness and stress reduction membership.
- Make care packages with hygiene objects for shelters.
- Set up a motorcycle security rodeo for youths.
- Host a school-wide hydration problem.
- Educate youthful college students easy health routines.
- Host a “screen-free week” problem.
- Companion with native hospitals to gather child provides for brand new mother and father.
- Set up a blood drive (with a associate group).
- Create health-related podcasts or movies for youthful college students.
- Set up a sports activities day for youths with disabilities.
- Accumulate first-aid provides for catastrophe reduction teams.
- Create and distribute recipe playing cards for fast, wholesome meals.
- Set up a wholesome snacks drive for after-school applications.
76. Welcome a refugee household
Hundreds of individuals flee their homelands and search asylum in the US yearly. Getting right here is only one a part of an extended and infrequently troublesome journey. Communities may help refugees settle in and really feel at house by working with Refugee Council USA. This can be a great mission for college kids and fogeys to work on collectively.
77. Begin an consciousness marketing campaign
As soon as children discover a problem close to and expensive to their hearts, they’ll leap wholeheartedly into spreading the phrase. The beauty of consciousness campaigns is that the subject may be absolutely anything: anti-bullying, wholesome existence, environmental points, and on and on. Children actually get an opportunity to be artistic with these campaigns, with one thing to construct on everybody’s strengths. Learn how to plan an awareness campaign here.
78. Stroll for Water
Open college students’ eyes to what it means to dwell with out quick access to scrub water with a 5K like no different. Individuals full the race carrying a gallon of water, like so many individuals around the globe should do a number of instances every day. Learn about this incredible service learning project from H2O for Life here.
When members of the neighborhood come along with households in have to construct new properties from the bottom up, everybody reaps the rewards. The Habitat for Humanity Youth Programs present a wide range of volunteer alternatives for youths as younger as 5.
80. Thank our troops
Say thanks in a significant technique to troops serving abroad by volunteering to assemble care packages for Operation Gratitude. You can too manage a letter-writing or holiday-card marketing campaign.
Have a look round your neighborhood and discover a place that might use an injection of creativity. Then plan a mission the place college students work with members of the neighborhood to make one thing stunning! Check out our collection of fun collaborative art projects here.
82. Socialize with senior residents
Getting older can generally be lonely, particularly for these in nursing properties and different senior amenities. There are many methods for youths to assist, from sending letters and playing cards to spending time studying with or to a senior buddy. Find more ways for kids to volunteer with seniors here.
83. Knit for charity
Knitting helps children construct their handbook dexterity and improves hand-eye coordination. Mix these advantages with charitable giving to create a enjoyable, artistic service studying mission. Organizations like Hats 4 the Homeless and Heat Up America take your knitted items and get them to those that want them. Find a whole list of knitting charities here.
84. Assist a neighborhood animal shelter
Animal-loving children can be thrilled to assist native pets in want. Some shelters have minimal age necessities for volunteers, however they typically desperately want provides and toys that children may help accumulate. Plus, their animals are at all times searching for good properties! Problem your children to provide you with creative ways to match homeless pets with their forever families. Contact your native shelter, or visit the ASPCA’s website for ideas.
Extra Group Assist and Advocacy Service Studying Concepts
- Set up a toy drive in the course of the holidays.
- Create thank-you playing cards for important staff.
- Host a restore cafe the place volunteers repair damaged objects at no cost.
- Accumulate musical devices for college kids who can’t afford them.
- Companion with native authorities to advertise voter registration.
- Set up a babysitting night time for folks in want.
- Host a free clothes closet for the neighborhood.
- Develop an internet site itemizing native sources (meals pantries, shelters, clinics).
- Host an intergenerational storytelling night time.
- Develop a marketing campaign to assist accessible playgrounds.
- Companion with native companies to create youth job-shadowing alternatives.
- Set up a “thank a instructor” occasion.
- Run a donation marketing campaign for catastrophe victims.
- Accumulate family cleansing provides for households in want.
- Advocate for safer crosswalks and sidewalks close to colleges.
- Create an anti-littering PSA for native radio or TV.
Get your free printable neighborhood service log bundle!
You’ll want to seize our free neighborhood service monitoring sheets, making it simple in your college students to maintain a neighborhood service log. The bundle contains choices for each youthful and older college students. Simply fill out the shape on this web page to get yours!
What are your go-to service studying initiatives? Come share your experiences and ask for recommendation within the We Are Teachers HELPLINE group on Facebook.
Plus, try these Volunteer Opportunities for Kids and Teens and take the 30 Days of Service Challenge.
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