My son and I just read a book called Kids Who Are Changing the World. I was inspired! One story in it is about a young boy, Jahkil Naeem Jackson, who went with his aunt to serve food to the homeless in Chicago. He saw how they lived and ever since that day, he wanted to help in some way. A few years later, he started making “blessing bags” filled with items to help the homeless. This project morphed into a foundation called Project I Am. His bags have gone beyond Chicago, some reaching all the way to Swaziland, Africa.
In 2017, Jahkil received the Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes. He has a dream to build tiny houses for the homeless and wants to build a house with his bare hands. All of this happened before he was even in high school. Although many parents wait to think of community service until their kids are considering college, middle school is the perfect age to start serving. And the benefits of community service are priceless, no matter your child’s age. Not sure how or where to get them connected? Try these 20 age-appropriate community service ideas for middle school students.
Suggest these ideas to your middle schooler.
1. Host a free neighborhood car wash.
2. Turn allowance into grocery money for a local food bank.
3. Clean out the closets and donate old clothes.
4. Organize a food drive.
5. Collect blankets to donate to homeless shelters for the winter months.
6. Create a recycling competition at school.
7. Create a new student welcome kit. Tell new kids the best options on the lunch menu, what dress code items to watch out for, and where to get the best ice cream after school.
8. Unofficially adopt a road and keep it trash-free.
9. Plant a tree. They’ll get to see it grow over the years!
10. Write cards to deployed soldiers.
11. Mow an elderly neighbor’s lawn for free.
12. Sweep the sidewalks in your neighborhood.
13. Volunteer to help at a pet shelter.
14. Visit a nursing home and offer to play board games or chat with residents.
15. Become a pen pal with a senior in a local assisted living facility.
16. Create bookmarks with kind words written on them and leave them in books at the library.
17. Leave anonymous thank-you notes on teachers’ desks.
18. Offer to reshelve books at the library.
19. Grab some fabric, yarn, and felt and make superhero capes for kids at the children’s hospital. (They might need Mom’s help and a sewing machine for this one.)
20. Make thank-you cards for local first responders.
Will middle schoolers want to volunteer?
You might think coming up with community service ideas for middle school students is a waste of time. Kids at this age are known for out-of-control hormones and eye rolls, but research shows that at age 13, which is right in the thick of middle school, kids are more adaptable and dependable, have a strong sense of duty, and think more often about future ambitions. So while they might resist walking your dog or picking up their room, this might just be the perfect age to spark a love of service to others.
What other community service ideas for middle school students can you add to the list?
