Before we had children, I volunteered with different organizations. Some of the activities I was involved in are teaching kids to read through a literacy program, being a camp counselor for special needs children, and helping an adult with low vision perform her daily household tasks.
As our family grew, I still wanted to help people but couldn’t do what I used to do with little children in tow. I had to think of other ways to accomplish this with my kids.
Nursing Homes / Retirement Centers
Someone told me that we should try visiting the elderly at the local nursing home or retirement center. Some of the residents hardly have anyone visiting them. They also enjoy seeing little children.
One day, I called up the activities director of the nearby nursing home to see if we can help in some way. She was so excited that someone wanted to do something with the residents.
Our family has visited several nursing homes and done various activities with the residents for the past seven years.
Here are some activities we have done with them:
- Crafts – many residents like making crafts but some just like to watch the kids make it for them.
- Cards games – cards are really big in our area so most of the people still like to play cards with us.
- Music – sing or play piano or other instruments
- Bowling – there are bowling sets that the elderly can use. This is great for little children because they like to pick up the pins and set them up.
- Board games – we let the kids choose their favorite board game to play with the residents
This has been a very rewarding experience for our children. The kids learned how to talk to them by speaking loudly into their ear and looking at their eyes when they are talking to them.
Need More Ideas?
- Making meals for the Habit For Humanity workers
- Helping out during Special Olympics
- Passing out flyers for different charity organizations
What other volunteer activities can you do with your children?
photo credit: J.C. Rojas
Hi Mimi!
These are great ideas! At what age do you think children can do these activities? I have a 2 yo son and I think he would be overwhelmed by all the attention so much so that he wouldn't participate in any activity. Do you think it would be good to just take him to get him acclimated?
Tara
Tara,
What you could do is when you go to visit, pick one or two residents and introduce yourself and your child. Ask them questions about themselves. Maybe have your child bring a favorite toy or game to play with them. You can just spend 10 – 15 minutes on each person depending how long your child can take it. The residents are just happy that they had someone to talk to that day.
Hope that helps!
Great post. We've tried to do little things since my sons were little, like buying extra Christmas presents for children in need, working at a food distribution center & working with organizations in our area to help folks clean up their yards when they were unable to do it themselves.
Those are great ideas! Thanks for the suggestions!
I take my girls with me when I do volunteer stuff, like story time at the library, but I hadn't thought of doing something they can participate in too. What a great idea!
I take my girls with me when I do volunteer stuff, like story time at the library, but I hadn't thought of doing something they can participate in too. What a great idea!