Service Ideas: 10 Simple Ways to Play and Have Fun With Your Kids

giving back • my world • Mom It Forward Mondays • tips for giving back

by Mom It Forward on January 23rd, 2012 | No Comments »

This week's Season of Service challenge is to Play, or in other words, to: occupy oneself in amusement, sport, or other recreation; or to act or conduct oneself in a specified way.

Since "playing" is most often associated with children, most of these bite-size ideas are things you can do with your kids.

10 Ways to Play and Have Fun With Your Kids

Put together some play bags with household items like those suggested by Invention at Play, and see what your kids invent.
Role play with your kids situations in which they might be tempted or asked to cheat, and feasible ways for them to turn down those requests or not find themselves in situations where they feel the need to cheat.
Play these Dakotah Native American language games with your kids.
Play the role of an online mentor for about 20 minutes a week to a young college student, interested in math, science, technology, or engineering. Many of the mentees are women or people from groups typically underrepresented in technical fields. If you don't have those skill sets, but know someone who does, let them know about Mentornet.Net.
Take your kids and some sidewalk chalk to their school playground in the evening, and write in big block letters: WE LOVE OUR TEACHERS.
Make everyone, including yourself, get off the couch and play—do something active—during every commercial when you watch TV tonight.
Read the requirements for a Presidential Active Lifestyle Award, which are essentially that youth "play" at least 60 minutes a day and adults for 30 minutes a day for five days a week for six out of eight weeks.
Role play with your kids effective ways to handle bullies, using some of our previously-offered tips or these other ones.
Play outside with your kids for one hour tomorrow.
Make at least five different kinds of play-dough with your kids tomorrow (here's a site with 40 different play-dough recipes), and maybe help them take one batch to a lonely friend.

How Will You Give to Others This Week?

Have you ever done any of these things? How did it go?
What other acts of service have inspired you?
How have others given to you this week and what difference has that made in your life?

How Else Can You Make a Difference This Season?

Commit to do one act of kindness/service based on the week’s challenge.
Leave a comment with ideas relating to the week’s challenge as well as your experience(s) performing it.
Enter to win this week’s giveaway.
Join #gno this Tuesday on Twitter to connect with other Mom It Forward moms about the challenge.