Teaching Elementary School Children to Become Humanitarians

I saw something on TV a couple months ago, I think on ABC, about bringing water to people all over the world that need clean water. I remember one part was children who sponsored some program...not so helpful, sorry.
there are so many charities than children can get into...soles for souls provides shoes..with money donations or donated shoes.
I agree, ask the children, they may have more ideas than you would think :)

What about starting a small garden on school property and donating the vegetables to local food banks?

C. J.

Collect small shampoos, conditioners, and other personal items and donate to the Ronald McDonald house (you can also have the kids host a meal, mattering on the age, I know I did that in 6th grade.)

Teach the kids to knit or crochet and have them make blankets for a homeless shelter or an animal shelter (pattern: http://nonnidesigns.blogspot.com/2007/10/nine-patch-scrap... , http://www.knitting-love.com/scrap-afghan-pattern.html ) you can sometimes get free yarn and supplies off of Freecycle (google it!).

What about sponsoring a girl's school in Ecudor. Children there cannot go to school unless they have uniforms and families are too poor to afford them.

How about contacting Baba Hari Das at Mount Madonna Center in Watsonville California. He runs several orphanages for girls who have no parents.

In Nepal there is a project for children's schools.

Closer to home do you have a food pantry that supplies food to families that are in need of food? Do you have a program to help homeless children.

In our town the churches house homeless families for two weeks at a time. There are about 30 churches involved in this program to help families to become rehoused and have a safe place in the meantime.

Our school has a Kids & Kindness club. They have made placemats for Meals on Wheels, assembled goodie bags for soldiers overseas and collected food for the food bank as well as Stuff A Bus for Christmas time (toys for tots).

Tabs on soda cans... I think Ronald McDonald house collects those.

Helping underprivileged kids somehow, in your area.
So that, the kids can see first hand, how it helps.
Kids need something tangible.
And it is 'community' minded.

Will your school allow a p.j. day, or silly hat day? Our school allowes kids to werar appropriate pj's for a dollar on a spific day and the funds go to a charity. How about letters to solidars? Maybe, a bake sale or popcorn sale? Good luck :)

A friends elementary school did a penny drive with the proceeds going to Haiti last year?

Maybe a canned food drived with the food donated to the local shelter?

Or a (gently) used toy drive and the toys can be donated to the local YWCA or women's shelter?

A fieldtrip to Gleaners. If the kids are over the age of 6 they can help package food at Gleaners. They show you a video at the beginning of your 'shift' , provide a tour and then assign a task. The whole thing takes about 2-3 hours beginning to end.

Julie P coordinates the volunteers, she can be contacted at ____@____.com to give you more info or get you set up.

The children can make cards or pictures for soldiers or people in nursing homes or adults or children in foster care. Color large pictures to be used as placemats for "meals on wheels". Collect items for hygiene bags for homeless shelters, or toys, or whatever. Make posters for awareness of any of these needs, or to say thank you. And thank you for helping these children learn awareness...

How about a keep our earth clean day....pick up trash at the school, a nearby church, somewhere safe for the kids. Hold a pop bottle return along with it that the parents could bring when they drop the kids off. The proceeds go to a charity, a nursing home, back to the school...wherever the kids decide they want to do good for. It's all about giving. Think food drive for the poor, diaper drive for those with kids that are less fortunate, cleaning up the town's park.

What about www.donorschoose.org? They could hold an event/sale/collection to raise the funds and then find a class on the site that is of the same grade/area/etc and have them donate to them. Maybe write letters to the other class to go along with it. I think it's great to do something internationally, but kids in need are often in our own backyard. This is a great way to get funding directly to teachers to help in poorer schools.

How old are the children? Have you asked them for ideas? Sometimes kids come up with the best ideas. I think it would be good if they actually do something to help others, not just give them money they raised somehow. Can they go plant a garden in a lower income neighborhood? Or do something for children in a children's hospital? With the tsunami/radiation stuff in Japan, maybe they can come up with a way to bless the people there.

Hi there,

Our school in Troy for the last 3 years has done a kids-to-kids rummage sale. Kids bring in toys they no longer play with with and sell them, with the funds all going to a non-profit where they build a school in underprivileged countries. We have helped build 3 schools. The kids do all the work. They sort the toys, price them (with adult guidance), market the sale(do posters etc.) and the 5th graders do the cashering the day of the sale. We ask each child to bring in 3 toys(Board games,action figures, crafts.) and if they do not have toys to donate volunteering their time works too. We then have people from the non-profit come and show the village getting the school and once it's built, the org comes back to show the school that they built. I was tired of seeing fundraisers where the parents do all the work or buy the goods. It also teaches the kids about recycling. This is for children from children. If interested please e-mail me back.

Here are some organizations that our school and scout troops have done drives for:
Soles4Souls collects gently used shoes to distribute to people in need http://www.soles4souls.org/
One Warm Coat does the same with coats http://www.onewarmcoat.org/organize.php
Project Night Night collects/distributes packages to children in homeless shelters that includes a book, blanket, and lovey http://www.projectnightnight.org/index.html
You could also do a collection drive for your local food bank

We (as a family) donate to the Ronald McDonald house. It's a great charity that helps kids and families in need!

Our 4H club took a local place where kids play basketball and repainted and cleaned it up. We collected cans and applied for local grants...then took the money and bought the paint, new nets, benches, and a couple trees for shade.

Our 4H also plants a community garden and does a garbage pick-up of a local park.

We have also built woodduck houses and bluebird houses for a local reserve.

Additionally, this time of year is great for adopting a highway and cleaning up the roadside of trash.

Otherwise...Pennies for Peace is a great organization to help build schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. If you read the book Three Cups of Tea you will be truly inspired (there is also a kids and teen version of the book) to do a penny drive to help build schools.

There is actually a community place here that benefits children and families in our specific school district. I just dropped off a donation of nonperishable items and was told this was the time of year they really needed it...so a food drive of some sort comes to mind.

Habitat for Humanity will not let children work on houses, it's obviously a safety issue. But they will allow kids to help plant flower beds when the houses are complete and ready to turn over to the families.

Coat drive. It's getting warmer, but people could benefit next winter. And many people are purging things now during spring cleaning.

Similar to the other class, but collect books for a local children's hospital.

Maybe a mentoring program of some sort. Match your kids with younger grades and practice reading or math skills.

I would also brainstorm with the kids. They may have an amazing doable idea! GL!