Developing service project ideas for younger children
Abstract
This effective practice offers a collection of community service and service-learning project ideas appropriate for young students. The ideas were compiled from a discussion on the ACList (AmeriCorps) e-mail discussion list, in October 2004.Issue
Finding community service and service-learning projects for students in lower elementary grades.Action
"We did a service-learning club in an after-school program last year with grades K-2, as well as with the older students. Some of the favorite ideas for the younger students were..." Custodian appreciation
- We talked about all the people who help keep the school "running."
- The students decided that they wanted to thank the custodians, because they saw that they had a "messy" job to clean up the lunchroom everyday, and they thought that was hard work.
- We went to see them cleaning up after school — the students had fun looking at the floor polishing machines and the other "tools of the trade" up close, and talked about what they did everyday.
- We took digital photographs of all the custodians, then made thank you posters that we put in the lunchroom and hallways. The students then decided to do the same for the secretary and office staff.
Laminated bookmarks
The students made beautiful bookmarks and left them in a basket on the library counter for other students to choose one when they checked out books.
ABC books
Using magazine cut-outs, the students made picture books for preschoolers to learn the alphabet. [Submitted by Mary Ellen Isaacs, meisaacs@mail.utexas.edu]
The following practices are based on ideas for involving elementary students in Service-Learning for Literacy from Rahima Wade, service-learning instructor at the University of Iowa.
Reading
- Practice reading a book and read it to a younger child who needs help learning how to read; a senior citizen who will benefit from your companionship; a child in a special needs classroom in your school who is learning to read.
- Make a book on tape to contribute to a state department of the blind; a local daycare center; or pediatric patients.
- Read a book that will teach you how to do something to help others and then do it! (For example, building a birdhouse, making toys for animals at the animal shelter, or planting a garden).
- Read a newspaper to an elderly person who can no longer read the small print.
Writing
- Make an alphabet book to give to a young child or donate to parents with a newborn baby through the local hospital.
- Work with the ESL teacher in your school to make vocabulary books for students learning English.
- Write a booklet for kindergarteners in your school. Include facts and school rules that will help them to be successful.
- Be a "secretary" for someone who has difficulty writing (someone with a disability or illness). Ask if the person would like to dictate a letter to a family member or friend while you write for him or her.
Group Projects
- Coordinate a book drive to collect new and excellent condition used books for children who do not have access to many books (poverty or disaster areas in the U.S., other countries, a local Head Start or homeless shelter).
- Review the books in your school library on one or more ethnic groups (for example, books about African Americans or Native Americans). Recommend removing books with stereotypical or outdated content and replacing them with newer, more positive books. If possible, hold a story hour with the new books and/or create a display in the library.
- Hold a used book sale on an evening or Saturday at the school or the local library. Donate the funds raised to a worthy cause. Publicize the event in the school and local community.
- Establish a pen pal project with senior citizens in a nursing home; children in a local hospital, or children in another country.
- Organize a weekly or monthly story hour at a nursing home; daycare center; hospital; school; library; or low income housing area. Feature books that teach children about being kind and helpful, respecting others, and making a difference in the community. [Submitted by Gary Kosman, gary@americalearns.net]
"Never underestimate the strength of the young ones. They are amazing."
1. Have the children brainstorm ideas.
2. Set ground rules:
- No idea is laughed at.
- No idea is stupid.
- No idea is ruled out until the end.
3. Then consider, "How can we really do this?"
Some ideas the children have come up with include:
- Plant trees or wildflowers.
- Plant produce. Donate the harvest to a local food bank.
- Plant seeds. Sell the flowers or plants and donate the proceeds to a local organization in need.
- Pick up litter at a park.
- Put on a play at a fair or festival about local environmental or human needs issues.
- Collect items for a time capsule.
- Make treats for a local senior home.
- Improve the school grounds.
- Develop and maintain a recycling program at school.
[Submitted by Tiffany Cooper, cooper@pcei.edu]