How do we keep the kids stimulated and busy over the summer?  Here’s a fresh idea for teens. How about encouraging them to run a week of fun community service activities for young kids. Get started with YesKidzCan!’s tools!

Service Projects that are Easy, Fun, and Worthwhile! In one to two hours, teens can help young kids (ages 4-12) work on a community service project at home with an Act of Kindness Kit.  Only $8.00, each Kit provides complete instructions for a unique activity (from baking home-made doggie biscuits to decorating pillowcases for wounded and recovering soldiers), a supply list, a schedule, certificates of appreciation, and suggested charities to receive your donation — everything teens need to make it fun and uncomplicated. (When you purchase an Act of Kindness Kit, you are supporting charitable organizations, too, because 100% of YesKidzCan!’s net profits go to children’s causes!)

Conversation Starters. Our free Weekly Dinner Topics or KidzBookReview book recommendations can help teens build interesting discussions and good reading into a summer day.

New Way to Recognize Kids’ Kind Acts: With parents’ permission, teens can take pictures of the kids involved in the week’s projects and post them on our global, online networking site called KidzPlace! Show the kids what you’ve done! It’s a unique way to give them a virtual high five for their kind acts. (And it’s free, secure, and easy to use.)

Add Your Own Spin. Teens can use their creativity to build in other service activities such a bake sale (www.greatamericanbakesale.org), card-making for a local senior center, or easy ways to go green around the house (www.goodhousekeeping.com/125greentips).

One Teen’s Week of Fun! A teenager from Maryland has already organized four weeks of community service activities for this sumer. She worked with her parents and parents of interested kids around the neighborhood to finalize specifics such as the schedule, selected activities, location, safety requirements, and costs. She is putting the money she earns toward supplies for school and spending money.

This kind of undertaking can strengthen teens’ pride, confidence, responsibility, feelings of accomplishment and ownership, and can result in a meaningful and rewarding summer experience for everyone! 

©YesKidzCan!, 2010.

 Has your kid ever asked to give you a makeover on a rainy afternoon?  Mine has.  For someone who was called Mary Tyler Moore growing up, the “goth” look truly didn’t cut it on me.  So now when my daughter approaches me with mascara wand in hand, redirection is key!  “Instead of giving mom a makeover,” I say, “why don’t we give the planet a makeover?”

My daughter doesn’t quite know what to make of this gibberish, so she plays along for a moment longer.   I start a conversation (cleverly, I think) about the importance of saving the rainforests.  She seems to understand more about the effects of deforestation than I do.  I don’t care!  The redirection is working!

“Mom, what do you mean by ‘a planet makeover?’” she asks me.  I have her now!  So, I tell her how a company that sells make-up and other beauty products wants to plant one million trees in South America’s Atlantic Rainforest, and we can help.  For just $1.00 (contributed through Avon’s initiative, Hello Green Tomorrow; www.hellogreentomorrow.com) a new tree gets planted.  Hence, Planet Makeover!  We bought “our tree.”  It was a good afternoon.

To be honest, I haven’t avoided future touch-ups and hair-dos at the hands of my daughter.   While my roots may never be the same from the back teasing, the roots we planted that day (both philosophical and actual) were worth it.  And, I didn’t need to leave a tip!

©YesKidzCan!, 2010.