YesKidzCan!

12 Volunteer Projects, 12 Countries, 12 Months

YesKidzCan! — Fri, 18 May 2012 11:00:22 +0000

Here’s a must-read story about the Lewis Family — Jackson (age 14), Buck (age 9) and their father, J.D., who committed themselves to volunteering in a different country every month for a year. Inspired by Jackson’s question, “Why aren’t we doing more to give back?,” J.D. went from thinking about taking local action to global action and then came up with his 12 in 12 concept — 12 projects in 12 countries in 12 months. The family circled the globe, starting their first project in Russia helping homeless youth in St. Petersburg. Their philanthropic voyage took them to Thailand where they worked with children with Down syndrome, to Kenya where they spent time with kids with HIV, and to India where they taught English to Tibetan refugees. Their travels included Antarctica, Australia, Peru, Haiti, and of course other countries to meet their goal of 12. To learn more about how they selected places to visit, how they funded their trip, and how the experience left a lasting impression, take a moment to read their story.

Love a Tree Day – May 16

YesKidzCan! — Tue, 15 May 2012 11:00:16 +0000

Kids love trees. Of course they do. They are great for climbing, hiding behind, swings, clubhouses, and the safety zone for countless childhood games. And because of the green movement, more and more kids understand that trees should also be loved because of their valuable environmental contributions including oxygen production, cleaning the soil, controlling pollution, fighting soil erosion, not to mention providing shade and coolness.

So in honor of the good fun and environmental good associated with trees, why not rally behind Love a Tree Day! Here are a few fun things to consider doing:

Recycle: Recycling is the process of collecting, processing, reusing,and recovering waste paper and remaking it into new products rather than throwing it away. This process conserves raw materials and energy needed to make new products. Your kids may glaze over at the definition, but they would probably pay closer attention knowing that if each person were to save one sheet of paper a day, then 40,000 trees would be saved each year. Involve the family in setting up a recycling system that works for you.

Minimize Junk Mail: Go beyond recycling unwanted mail and get rid of it altogether by canceling catalogs and other junk mail which results in the waste of 150 million trees per year. You and your kids can stop the mailbox madness by logging on to the Direct Marketing Association’s website and requesting that your name be removed from marketing lists.

Reduce Your Paper Use: Kids love to be in charge. Ask them to pick a day and write down every bit of paper you use and throw out. They will be amazed at how much paper you chew through. Brainstorm solutions for using less papers such as packing lunches in reusable bags, signing up for online billing, or using cloth napkins.

So this May 16, go out on a limb, branch out, be rooted in your beliefs (sorry!), and be part of Love a Tree Day. You can hug a tree, save a tree, or plant a tree. Or simply sit under the soothing shade of your favorite tree and have a picnic (packed in reusable containers, of course), read the newspaper (remember to put it in the recycle bin when finished), or take a climb and enjoy the lush green view that you are helping to preserve.

Can Kids Be Social Entrepreneurs?

YesKidzCan! — Fri, 11 May 2012 11:00:22 +0000

Yes, yes, and yes! Kids are natural social entrepreneurs. (Our definition is someone who creates a venture or business that can help solve social problems or benefit society.) For children, this can mean creating things to sell, providing a special service, or organizing an event to earn money for a cause. Kids have boundless imagination and creativity. They can look at a simple object and see all its possibilities. For example, watch Caine’s Arcade to see how child’s imagination transformed cardboard boxes into the ultimate carnival experience.

Combine imagination with an interest in helping a cause and you have a social entrepreneur. If you or your kid wonders if he or she has what it takes, we have created a simple rating sheet called, Can I Be a Social Entrepreneur? Print it out, and have your child rate on a scale of 1 to 5 their answers to a series of questions such as: “I have ideas about how I want to make the world a better place,” or “I feel good when I’ve helped someone or something.”

For all kinds of fun social entrepreneurial activities kids can organize to support a person, place, or thing they care about, check out our listing of creative ideas, and help your kids unleash their natural social entrepreneur.

Unique Ways Schools Can Make Money

YesKidzCan! — Tue, 08 May 2012 11:00:00 +0000

Any parent is familiar with the requests from your kids to support the school bake sale, purchase raffle tickets, attend the spring fling, or buy wrapping paper — all with the very noble goal of raising funds for the educational institution. If parents are being honest, there are moments when we all think, “Not again!”

That’s why when we came across these unusual ideas for schools to generate funds, we had to share them.

Adult Spelling Bee: Grownups get to show off their spelling skills much to the glee of a packed auditorium of kids. Have a school administrator give the words (which can easily be found off the Internet). Each class can have a team of parents who compete against each other. Set an entrance fee per participant or team. You can even ask a local business to help sponsor the event or provide a modest prize to the winners.

No Talent Contest: Coordinate a talent show where the goal is to perform really badly! Charge $1 to get in and $5 to get out! Participants can sing off key or perform terrible magic tricks, comedy routines, or dance routines.

Teachers Who Rap: A week or so before a pep rally, set up a table with jars that you label with teachers’ names. Ask kids to put $1 in the jar with the name of the teacher they would like to see perform a rap. The “winning” teacher gets to lip-sync a rap song at the upcoming pep rally.

School Spirit Chain: During a set week, students buy strips of paper for $1 to use toward making a paper chain for their class. Each class assembles the chain in secret and then reveals it at an assembly. The grade with the longest chain wins. The prize could be bragging rights, a school spirit award, or something else negotiated with the administration.

For more unique fundraising ideas, click here!

4GOOD: A Community Group that Truly Builds Community

YesKidzCan! — Fri, 04 May 2012 11:00:40 +0000

We want to shine a spotlight on our friends at 4GOOD, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit that help families participate in volunteer activities to foster values of kindness, compassion, tolerance, community responsibility, and good citizenship. Music to YesKidzCan!’s ears! Founders of 4GOOD (Erika and Peter Athanas and Katie and Jeff Goldman) wanted to make it easier to find volunteer activities in their area that suited young children. So they decided to find, create, and share community service opportunities that worked well for families.

One of these opportunities was 4GOOD’s recent Family Day — an afternoon volunteer extravaganza that included family-friendly service projects to help kids understand the value of giving back to their community.

Kids could choose from a a wide variety of fun and inspiring service projects including: making Easter cards for children in the hospital; decorating placemats and collecting canned goods and toiletries for home-bound seniors; planting flowers; and writing letters to service men and women. In addition, YesKidzCan! was thrilled to have as part of this event our A Walk in My Shoes Community Service Project where kids got to write special messages and tuck them into gently-used shoes for donations.

4GOOD’s Family Day was a great success and will be repeated next year! In one afternoon, event participants:

Contributed 267 pounds of canned goods, 5 gallon bags of gently-used shoes, and 10 gallon bags of stuffed animals and blankets;
Decorated 175 placemats and bags;
Planted 150 flower pots; and
Wrote 80 letters to service men and women.

While these donation numbers certainly carry great meaning, we think 4GOOD would agree with us that it was the coming together of the community for the good of the community that was equally significant. Their efforts remind us of one of our favorite quotes by Archbishop Desmond Tutu:

“Do you little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.”

Cheers to 4GOOD for inspiring others to “do their little bit” (and then some)!

Give Mom Gifts that Give

YesKidzCan! — Tue, 01 May 2012 11:00:52 +0000

Most moms out there know that we have a pretty big influence on what goes on in our homes. From scheduling and planning to purchases and rule setting, moms have a hand in all of it. And whether we like it or not, our influence extends to making subtle (and not so subtle) suggestions about what gifts to buy us. How many times have we stared back at your kids’ wide eyes as they demand to know what we want for Mother’s Day, and when we tell them, they start crying because now they can’t surprise us. How many times have we found it hard to resist finding a teachable moment for your kids even when all they want to do is get lost in all the store goodies they can buy? Should we touch on the responsible spending lesson? The thoughtful selection lesson? The hand-made gift is just as good as (if not better than) the store-bought gift lesson? Well, stress no more about your gift list this Mother’s Day. Here’s a way to make suggestions without crushing the surprise element AND sneak in a few good messages. Let your spouse and your kids know about the following websites that not only offer products that you would happily receive but that also give back!

Gifts that Give: This website lets you choose from over 100 upscale brands with $1 out of every $5 going to any cause of your choice. You can choose from one of the 1.2 million Guidestar-approved charitable causes listed on the site. You can buy via brand or category such as gourmet, beauty, fashion, technology, travel, and more.

Green America: This website helps consumers make purchasing choices that promote social justice and environmental sustainability. You can check out the Green Gift Guide that features special offers from businesses that support people and the planet. You can purchase organic gift baskets, books for conscious living, fair trade products like coffee, tea, chocolate, and crafts, organic body care products, and more.

Your kids want to know what to buy you for Mother’s Day. Why not tell them and teach them at the same time!

DailyFeats: App that Helps You Feel Good & Do Good

YesKidzCan! — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 11:00:51 +0000

Goals you hope to achieve every day can have a bigger impact than you think thanks to DailyFeats. This i-Phone app lets you track wellness goals you set for yourself such as reducing stress, saving money, losing weight, exercising, or taking care of your family. You can receive reminders and incentives via the app to accomplish your feats each day. As you make progress, you can share your successes with your family, friends, and the DailyFeats community. On top of that, you can earn points for rewards for national brands or for donations you can make to a cause of your choice. Studies show that people who track their new habits are more likely to keep them. DailyFeats is a high-tech twist on keeping yourself motivated to feel good and do good at the same time.

29-Day Giving Challenge

YesKidzCan! — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 11:00:45 +0000

Here’s a unique way to challenge your kids: encourage them to take part in a 29-Day Giving Challenge. This lovely notion was started by Cami Walker who is living with Multiple Sclerosis. To bring a more positive focus to her life, she decided to give away 29 gifts in 29 days. Astounded by how much better this effort made her feel, she launched 29Gifts to encourage others to do the same and share their stories.

Gifts can include smiles, kind words, food, needed items, time, or anything else! You can share your story on the website by submitting a story, posting artwork, creating a short film, or even writing a song. The site has over 16,000 members from 43 countries and is dedicated to reviving the giving spirit around the world.

Consider trying this out with your family, your classroom, your neighborhood, faith group, club, or scout troop. There is no “right” way to do it! The “doing” is the most important part!

Young Kids Need to Learn About Social Entrepreneurism

YesKidzCan! — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 11:00:59 +0000

The following article, written by YesKidzCan! Co-Founders, Lisa Novick and Julie Chapman (and published in Philanthropy News Digest), emphasizes why we have made social entrepreneurism a priority.

Who among us hasn’t looked at our kids sitting across from us at the dinner table and wondered, “What will they be when they grow up?” Haven’t we also thought, “What can we do so our kids get the best in education, resources, and life experiences to help guide them to their life’s calling?” As parents, educators, and community leaders, we are doing a disservice to our kids by not exposing them at the elementary school level to an important field – social entrepreneurism. Our definition of social entrepreneurism is creating a venture or business that can help solve social problems or benefit society. For children, this can mean creating things to sell, providing a special service, or organizing an event to earn money for a cause to result in what many experts call “social value.” Take Alex Scott for example. She was only 4 years old and fighting cancer when she started her lemonade stand to raise money for cancer research. After one year, she raised $2,000. By the time she was 8, she had raised $1 million through Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation.

Let’s be clear about a few points. First, many kids (like Alex) are motivated to pursue a social entrepreneurial activity because they have been touched by something serious or significant and are moved to take action. Whether or not our kids are natural change makers — any kid would be hard pressed to implement a venture of this kind on their own without the support of an engaged and enthusiastic adult. We are not suggesting that we teach elementary school kids to run businesses on their own or learn to balance a spread sheet. However, we do feel that we should impart the basic concepts of social entrepreneurism at early ages, teach simple activities to reinforce these concepts, and lay the groundwork for more substantial action as our kids enter into middle school, high school, and beyond. In these ways, we are helping our kids open up their minds to all they can be.

What’s the Value?

Social entrepreneurial ventures have become an important part of today’s economy. In the past, charitable organizations and government agencies focused on addressing our world’s many challenges such as poverty, the environment, education, and health. Over time, it became clear that more ideas, resources, and approaches were needed to help tackle the growing number of issues around the globe. Businesses began to emerge that were dedicated to finding solutions to today’s problems – bringing with them a new generation of innovators and problems solvers using the social entrepreneurial model. Simply put, “social entrepreneurism is as vital to the progress of societies as entrepreneurship is to the progress of economies.” (So say Roger L. Martin and Sally Osberg in the Stanford Social Innovation Review, Spring 2007.) The field of entrepreneurship has been incorporated into educational curriculum at all levels and has been shown to result in numerous benefits including greater awareness of personal talents and skills, enhanced creativity and problem solving skills, improved academics and attendance, and grasping basics about economy, finances and social responsibility. If we place value on teaching elementary school kids about entrepreneurism, our hope is that social entrepreneurism is not too far behind.

Need for Action

Many reputable organizations such as Ashoka, EchoingGreen, and the Skoll Foundation are inspiring and supporting teens and young adults to be social entrepreneurs. Thanks to these organizations and others, the field of social entrepreneurism has expanded significantly. However, little to no attention is being giving to teaching our nation’s youngest talent – our future problem solvers. Rather than just talk about this topic, we should act. That’s why, we launched our Social KidPreneuerz Awards Program. The program makes $100 awards to kids (grades 3-8) to inspire them to undertake an entrepreneurial activity that benefits society. While modest in size, each award brings with it a substantial feeling of responsibility and ownership and requires a commitment to complete the task. Our intention is to plant the seeds of social entrepreneurism among younger generations — instilling in them the belief that they can shape their world. In addition, we have developed learning tools for parents, teachers and community/faith leaders to use with students in grades 3-8. These tools can be used independently or in conjunction with applying for an award.

The Shape of Things to Come

Not every child is suited to be a social entrepreneur. Not every child is suited to be an entrepreneur, scientist, mathematician, or artist. However, elementary and middle school aged kids have the natural curiosity, imagination, drive, and ability to come up with innovative ways to change our world for the better. By exposing our kids to a variety of disciplines, including social entrepreneurism, we are teaching them they may have what it takes to “be the change” as Gandhi said. One social entrepreneur expert, David Bornstein, writes once an individual has been experienced the power of a social entrepreneurism, he or she will “never go back to being a passive actor in society.” Don’t we owe it to our kids and our future to do more than what we are currently doing?

Fun Ways to Celebrate Earth Day

YesKidzCan! — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 11:00:59 +0000

Earth Day is April 22, and if you are are looking for some fun ways to mark the day, here are a few ideas (with thanks to Family Circle):

Monkey Around: Here’s another great documentary from Disneynature called Chimpanzee which chronicles the life of a baby chimp named Oscar. If you see the film April 20-26, a donation will be made to the Jane Goodall Institute to help chimpanzees and their habitats.
Pick a Park: From April 21-29, about 150 National Park will offer free admission as part of National Park Week which highlights historic sites, landscapes, and monuments. Click here to find a location near you.
Get Your Green On: There is always an opportunity to volunteer on a green project during National Volunteer Week, April 15-21. For service ideas near you, visit HandsOnNetwork.