Volunteer Opportunities

Volunteering is a great experience for kids. They learn about using their time and skills to help others. Children can learn about some of the needs in the community that they can fill. Volunteering is worthwhile work that makes people of all ages feel good.

Volunteer activities can fill a teenager’s time when they’re too old to go to child care, but you don’t want them to have too much time on their hands. It’s also work experience for those who will be putting together and looking for a job in the upcoming years.

Some organizations have formal volunteer programs, but there are plenty of groups that would gladly accept help if offered. Usually a teenager who is old enough to hold a job is old enough to volunteer on their own. Many organizations accept volunteers ages 14 and older or 16  and older. If they’re younger than that, typically parents need to volunteer as well to provide supervision for their children.

There are two exceptions to this. Some organizations, especially those that provide child care or day camps for kids, have counselor-in-training programs for older kids. They’re equipped to provide supervision for the older kids while having them help. The other exception is case by case. If your child is mature enough to provide help on their own, they may be able to do so if the adults in charge of that activity know your child personally. This might be the case if your child attended that activity when they were younger and now wants to return to help younger kids. The other possibility is that you volunteer with them until they know what they need to do and can do it independently. Then the organization may be willing to accept their help solo. It depends a lot on what their other responsibilities are and how much attention your child would need.

Community Service

A lot of kids need community service hours to graduate from high school or to satisfy requirements for another achievement. They can participate in an ongoing service project or find short term volunteer opportunities.

Volunteer Organizations

Volunteering as part of a group can be ideal, especially for younger youth volunteers. A group can find many opportunities to help out, from performing for people in a retirement home to collecting food for the needy to pulling weeds in a public park. Adult organizers go with the kids, eliminating the need for the receiving organization to provide supervision. Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts are especially good at finding or creating such volunteer opportunities.