Teaching simple ways kids can help their communities empowers them to see professional community helpers in a new light.

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Ways Kids Can Help Communities

Community helpers are this week’s Virtual Book Club for Kids theme.

I wrote an entire post about community helper preschool activities last year, so this year I decided to do something a little different. I decided to talk to my kids about how they can be community helpers. Here are some the ideas we came up with.

How Kids Can Be Community Helpers

Our kindness elves gave the kids a great head start in thinking about themselves as members of a community they can help! Here are some ideas they came up with:

• Always being friendly and saying hi to neighbors.
• Sharing on the playground.
• Making sure everyone gets included while playing.
• Not being loud outside in the early morning or late at night when neighbors are trying to sleep.
• Telling people who deliver packages and mail thank you.
• Picking up trash.
• Share our basketball hoop and basketballs with the neighborhood kids.

I pointed out that our home is a very small community, and we found some more home-based community helper jobs:

• Fold the laundry.
• Empty the dishwasher (and load it).
• Clean up toys.
• Vacuum and mop the floors.
• Dust.

Of course, the community helpers featured in  books are usually paid for their jobs. We talked about a few community helper type jobs my oldest daughter does. My younger kids are very anxious to grow up enough to find some of these paid jobs.

• Babysit.
• Cat sit.

I feel like this activity really got my kids thinking about what makes a community helper a community helper. Can you think of other community helper type jobs kids can do?

More COMMUNITY HELPER BOOKS

Help kids learn more about community helpers by reading these books together.

• Tinyville Town Gets to Work
• I’m a Veterinarian
• I’m a Firefighter
• I’m a Librarian
• I’m a Police Officer
• Delivering Your Mail
• Let’s Meet a Construction Worker
• Whose Hands Are These?
• Community Helpers from A to Z
• Clothesline Clues to Jobs People Do
• What Do People Do All Day?

COMMUNITY HELPER EDUCATIONAL TOYS

Learn through play with these community helper themed educational toys.

• Community Helpers TOOB
• Community Helper Dress Up Hats
• Wooden Community Play Set
• Community Helpers Felt Figures for Flannel Boards

More Community Helper Themed Learning Activities for Kids

Keep learning with these community helper themed learning activities:

• Community helper preschool activities, books, and crafts (last year’s post. I’m biased, but I think it’s full of great ideas!)
• The Wheels on the Bus STEM Activity
• Community Helpers Beginning Letter Sounds Activity
• Community Helpers Number Game
• Embroidered Trash Can Early Sewing Project
• Community Helpers Poetry

Can you think of other ways kids can help their communities? How about other favorite community helper themed learning activities for kids? Please share any ideas you have on my Facebook page, or tag me on Instagram. 

MaryAnne Kochenderfer

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MaryAnne is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.