Day 6: Crafting With Helping Hands

Day 6: Crafting With Helping Hands

“If volunteering begins at an early age, it
can become part of kids' lives — something they might just expect and want to do.” – KidsHealth.org

Here’s me getting outside my comfort zone…from inside my comfort zone…read: using crafting as a means to help others. This is a project we started today: making spring decorations to donate to a nursing home. When I contacted the center, I presented my case: I want to teach my children the value of community service, I don’t have extra money to donate, and they are not old enough to volunteer- BUT we have crafting supplies out the waaz and time to commit to projects: what can WE do?

The activities director said that the residents already receive child-made greeting cards on a regular basis from area schools, but that they are always in need of themed decorations for the hallways and small, hand-made items to use as BINGO prizes- she mentioned that a good place to start might be to make some spring flowers. Yes- this we can do!

The photos here show our prototype, but with the kids coloring and me cutting out each individual flower, we aren’t going to be able to produce many of these before interests wane (for all of us). I switched gears mid-project and modified our plan- I am going to use a paper punch to punch flowers out of patterned paper to speed things up, and have the kids help color the pots and assemble the flower parts. We will deliver our flower pots this weekend- Little Lady said, “All the ladies and gentlemen will be happy when they see our flowers!” Yep- that’s the idea: crafting together to put a smile on someone’s face.

I am looking for more ways to get kids involved in age-appropriate volunteering/community service opportunities on a regular basis…do you have ideas? I’d be particularly interested in ways my kids can help other kids (in addition to making donations). Post them here!