People lifting up a wooden wall frame together.

Kid friendly volunteer opportunities

Help your kids find their volunteering passion.

Volunteering as a family can be a great way to instill a spirit of giving at a young age and make a difference together. Use these steps to generate volunteer ideas for kids and help them learn how to help others.

Discover their interests

Animals, birds, buildings, cooking: Kids have wide-ranging and often diverse interests, and that's the best way to capture and nurture their volunteer spirit. Find something they're passionate about and build on it. For example, if animals spark their attention, an animal shelter or rescue and rehabilitation facility makes a natural fit. If there's a zoo near you, you could check to see if they have any volunteer work for teens. A love for cooking can be channeled into efforts for a community food pantry.

Do some research

Once children have narrowed down a topic, help them learn more about the issues. Your goal is to broaden their perspective beyond the walls of their home so they can understand other people, places, cultures and issues.

Find a local connection

Sure, you can find a national or global charity that fits your kid's interest — but you can also look for a local environmental group that is active and visit a natural area they've helped to protect. That's a good way to help your children see firsthand how volunteering directly impacts the world around them. You can donate to your local food pantry, making a difference to families in need, or support your first responders.

Choose a commitment — short-term or ongoing

Once you've identified that local connection, work with your kids to figure out how they can contribute — either once or as an ongoing activity. For example, a local park may be having a clean-up day, or they may enjoy reading or playing games with retirement home residents once a week.

The information in this article was obtained from various sources not associated with State Farm® (including State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company and its subsidiaries and affiliates). While we believe it to be reliable and accurate, we do not warrant the accuracy or reliability of the information. State Farm is not responsible for, and does not endorse or approve, either implicitly or explicitly, the content of any third party sites that might be hyperlinked from this page. The information is not intended to replace manuals, instructions or information provided by a manufacturer or the advice of a qualified professional, or to affect coverage under any applicable insurance policy. These suggestions are not a complete list of every loss control measure. State Farm makes no guarantees of results from use of this information.

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