Service Projects, Videos, Reflection Tools, and Book Lists for Young Change Makers and Their Families
Our children are watching. If they’re old enough to ask questions, they’re old enough to notice something unusual is happening in their community, their world.
They’re watching the events of our nation unfold, even if we think we are shielding them from it. They are listening as we grapple with the implications of this peculiar moment in history. And they are looking for cues about how to respond to division and hate speech, to misinformation and misplaced allegiances.
They are watching as we consider how to respond to a call for national unity and community-level neighborliness. There has never been a more appropriate moment to actively teach our children about citizenship – engaged, inclusive, and compassionate citizenship.
Here are some of our favorite tools to raise the next generation of engaged voters and big-hearted problem-solvers.
Service Projects that Strengthen Democracy
Click here for detailed instructions and printables to help your family reach out to elected officials.
Teach the power of speaking up.
Reach out to your elected officials as a family, reflecting on recent events and letting them know you expect them to strengthen our democracy and speak with truth and conviction. Help young children reach out with their own words and ideas with the following writing/drawing prompts:
To me, democracy means…
In (year your child can vote) I look forward to voting for (issues, causes, or ideas your child cares about) please work for a strong, vibrant democracy.
Click here to browse DGT’s city-specific, monthly volunteer listings.
Volunteer to meet real needs in your local community.
The pandemic has left more people than ever in need of a hand. Help your community face this crisis by working together to support your local food shelf, Meals on Wheels, or senior care facility, or a cause your family cares about.
Let DGT help you find meaningful opportunities to volunteer with your whole family! Subscribe to DGT’s city-specific, monthly volunteer listings or choose a project from our growing at-home collection.
Download DGT’s Active Citizenship Toolkit
This unique guide is designed to help your family replace anxiety about local and global challenges with action steps that empower your family to become part of the solution. Free for members, ($6.99 in the DGT store), this toolkit is full of thought-provoking tools to get engaged in your community. Including
A conversation guide and family pledge to make a difference.
A 12-part, week-by-week guide to civic engagement.
Additional tools for issue-specific advocacy.
Videos to Inspire Growing Citizens
Reflection Tools to Promote Critical Thinking
If your children are old enough to learn about the events at the capital on January 6, 2021, the Greater Good Network has excellent tips to reflect together.
DGT’s popular post I Disagree: 7 Civil Conversation Skills for Kids, Teens, and Families may help you kickstart habits of meaningful discussion that can set kids up for a lifetime of healthy debate.
Common Sense Media has powerful advice for Explaining the News to Our Kids, including advice for kids of all ages.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration offers these detailed Tips for Talking to Children after a Disaster, which can be easily adapted to apply to the layered challenges facing our country.
Visit DGT’s popular newsletter Raising Courage: Teaching Kids to Do the Right Thing.
Podcasts to Inspire Thoughtful Discussions
Learn smart debate techniques and fun facts!
Listen to NPR’s Life Kit.
The hilariously informative podcast Smash Boom Best introduces kids to smart debate tactics - helpful for a lifetime of productive disagreements and thoughtful conversations - while exploring super silly debate topics like ice cream versus french fries.
Staying informed requires the ability to seek out reliable news sources, a habit that you can start young. Common Sense Media offers an extensive list.
The podcast Kidnuz, created by moms who are broadcast journalists, offers young listeners five minutes of kid-friendly news each day, five days a week.
Teens and their parents can listen to Brené on Words, Actions, Dehumanization, and Accountability, and the rest of the Unlocking Us podcast.
NPR’s Life Kit offers 6 Ways to Raise Informed, Active Citizens.
Book Lists for Compassionate Citizens
Raising Engaged Humans: A Book List for Big-Hearted Parents
At DGT we love parenting books that give us a sense that we are not alone on this journey to raise empowered, engaged kids. The books we’ve gathered here offer
Inspiration to try something new when the status quo isn’t working,
Encouragement and hope at the end of a hard day, and
Practical, doable ideas to help you raise kind, community-minded kids.
These resources are just the beginning.
Active citizenship is a lifelong practice, and learning strategies to help our communities, our nation, and our world thrive must be an ongoing mission. By starting these conversations and service projects at a young age, our children will grow to face communal challenges with the knowledge that we can all step up and make a difference with courage and empathy.
Discover more projects in our growing collection below.
If you like our free resources, you'll love our membership program! Join today and we'll help you keep kindness on your family calendar all year long.
Disclaimer: Doing Good Together™ is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
The recommendations we offer are based solely on our mission to empower parents to raise children who care and contribute.
What does it take to be an engaged, thoughtful, ethical citizen of the United States of America? This unique and evolving list of picture books will help your whole family answer that question.