Welcome to the fifth week of our Summer of Service! Each Monday in June and July, we're privileged to be featuring a fantastic guest blogger sharing his or her unique and personal perspective on service, volunteering and citizen philanthropy. Today, please welcome Crystal Yan, college freshman extraordinaire! Crystal is the co-producer of the Social Startup Summit, a one-day, high-impact social entrepreneurship boot camp for high schoolers, and What's Next: 25 Big Ideas from Gen-Yers Under 25, a collaborative book project on the power of youth. Thanks Crystal!
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How to Meaningfully Engage Kids in Volunteer Work, and Beyond
by Crystal Yan
School's out, and while the first few lazy days of summer are glorious, by now, you've probably heard plenty of "I'm bored" whines. Whether you're a parent or a non-profit that works with youth volunteers, here are several ways to engage your kids, from toddlers to teenagers, in summer activities with a purpose.1. Make use of creative talents and cultural heritages
Kids love hearing that they're special and good at something. Tap into the talents of your children. Even better, try to find projects that honor an ethnic heritage. For example, this summer, to raise money for earthquake victims in China, my friend and I are starting RockYourChineseName, a project that honors our Chinese-American heritage and utilizes our art skills. For $8.88, we're offering to translate names into Chinese and hand-write it in traditional Chinese calligraphy, proceeds going to a cause we care deeply about. Does your community have a local community center for multicultural families? Reach out to youth there and encourage them to start a project of their own. I know a girl who has been trained in Bharatnatyam, a classic Indian dance, for years. She's planning to put on a benefit show to raise money for a local non-profit that supports youth leadership and entrepreneurship.
2. Have them meet other youth volunteers!
Every entrepreneur can use a support network of other entrepreneurs to guide them through issues on anything from accounting to marketing, and likewise, every child can use a support network of other youth who are passionate about saving the world. In meeting other like-minded youth, your kid will be inspired to join more movements and make a better use of their summer. A great way to get them started is by having them join service clubs at school (once the school year starts), volunteering with local city events or at the local library, and attending events. For example, I'm launching the inaugural Social Startup Summit this August, which is a great way for youth to network with other youth and collaborate on starting social change projects.
3. Get them to crunch numbers and make movies!
Look up some statistics and have your children calculate the statistics to make them even more compelling. For example, 24,000 children die each day of preventable causes. Have your kids do the math (this is a great way to get them to retain their math skills too!): that's 1,000 each hour, which makes it how many each minute? Then have them put it in context. For example, if it takes 2 minutes to microwave their favorite microwave pizza, in that time, how many children have died from going hungry? Now whip out your camera, camcorder, or phone and have them film a PSA. Or grab the crayons and butcher paper and have them draw posters or flyers. You'll teach them just a little bit about marketing/advertising (and consequently, media literacy and all the tactics those pesky fast food companies use on them) and do it for a good cause. You may even go viral! Internet memes need more cute kids with a cause. :)
4. Teach kids money management skills, then make a game out of it!
Who doesn't love a healthy dose of friendly competition? Take a cue from all the cheesy reality shows out there and put on an Apprentice-style experience for kids. Go through some basics of fundraising (the benefits are two-fold: you empower kids to not only raise money for worthy charities but you also empower them with valuable financial literacy skills), then challenge the kids to a bake-off, coin wars or lemonade stand wars. Bonus points if there's a fun theme, like Grownups v.s. Kids.
5. Send them to camp!
Many local youth centers offer summer camps and recruit older kids (high school students, sometimes even middle school students) as volunteer counselors. It's a great compromise between a parent who wants to make sure their teen isn't stranded at home playing video games all day and a teen who feels too old for summer camp. Your child will learn how to give back to the local community's youth and the importance of mentoring younger students and being a good role model. Who knows? It might even make him/her realize how to be a better older sibling!I hope that helped stifle those pleas of "I'm bored, what's there to do?".
Get your child started in making an impact!
Feel free to contact me. :)
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The Social Startup Summit is looking for student social change rockstars as summit delegates, adult volunteers, and community/corporate sponsors.
What's Next wants to inspire young people to change the world. Tell all the youth you know to read it now. We're also looking for testimonials and sponsors from those who are a little more "grownup" and we moonlight as consultants (CSR, social media, etc) too. Contact us at bigideas@hereswhatsnext.com
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