How to get your kid volunteering: food banks, cleanups and leading their own project

Kids 10 to 12 can do real work that makes a real difference: sorting cans at a food bank, picking up litter at the park, raking an elderly neighbor's leaves. Volunteering shows them they're not just members of a community, they're contributors to it. And it may be good for them, too.

Why it's worth it

The CDC recommends it. Its tips for ages 9 to 11 include encouraging kids to join school and community groups or volunteer for a charity, and to help people in need.

Helping others may help the helper. In a 2013 randomized trial in Canada, 106 tenth graders were assigned either to volunteer weekly with elementary school kids for two months or to a wait list. Afterward, the volunteers had lower levels of inflammation and cholesterol, and lower BMI, than the comparison group. Teens who grew the most in empathy and helping behavior showed the biggest improvements. It was one small study with older teens, so it's a promising finding, not settled science. But it's a nice reminder that giving and getting can go together.

Model it. The American Academy of Pediatrics notes that when parents give freely, children learn how to give more freely themselves. Volunteering together is the most powerful version of that.

Skill 1: Help at a food bank, cleanup or neighbor's yard

1. Pick a way to help with your grown-up.
2. Wear gloves and stay with your grown-up.
3. Keep at your job the whole time.
4. Talk about how it helped.

Where kids can help:

• Food banks and pantries. The AAP notes that food banks and local anti-hunger programs welcome volunteers for sorting and packing. Many set minimum ages, so check first.
• Park, beach or stream cleanups. Often run by cities, parks departments or local groups.
• A neighbor who needs a hand: raking leaves, shoveling snow, carrying groceries.
• A food drive at home. The AAP suggests asking your child to help clear out the pantry and fill a few bags to drop off.

"Keep at your job the whole time" is the real skill. Volunteering isn't always fun. Sorting cans for an hour takes focus. Finishing the shift is something to be proud of.

Talk afterward. Who did this help? How do you think they felt? The AAP suggests talking about hunger in ways that fit a child's age: for kids 7 to 12, that includes talking about the stigma people can feel when they need help.

Skill 2: Track your service hours

1. Write the date and what you did.
2. Write how long you helped.
3. Add up your hours each month.
4. Ask a grown-up to check and sign it.

A service log turns scattered good deeds into a record. Many middle and high schools, scout groups and clubs ask for service hours, so starting the habit now pays off later. It's also motivating to see the hours add up.

The challenge: plan and lead a small service project

The mastery goal is to plan and lead a small service project with family or friends.

1. Pick a need you can help with.
2. Plan the jobs and supplies with a grown-up.
3. Lead the group on the day.
4. Share what the project did.

Project ideas:

Ask first. Before collecting things for an organization, call and ask what they actually need. A shelter might need socks more than toys.

Measure the impact. "We collected 47 cans" or "we filled 6 bags of litter" makes the result real.

Leading is the big step. Your child assigns jobs, keeps things moving and thanks everyone at the end. (More on planning in hosting a family event.)

Safety

• A grown-up comes along, every time.
• Gloves on for cleanups, and leave sharp objects, needles or anything unknown for a grown-up to handle.
• Choose established organizations you know, and follow their rules.

Make it a quest

In Family Quests, this is the Volunteer skill, the top of the Social Studies branch. Practice quests are help at a food bank, cleanup or neighbor's yard and track your service hours, and the mastery quest is plan and lead a small service project with family or friends. Every Volunteer quest lists a grown-up as part of the job. The helping-out quest is checked by voice note or tap, so no photos of other people end up in the app. Start free.

Next: go back to how local government works, or read about cutting household waste.