Submitted by WAVE reader Heather Farley. You can find her blogging at Its All About the Hat.
Tomorrow is Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the United States. In 1994, Congress declared Martin Luter King Jr. Day to be a Day of Service.. Because it is a federal holiday, many people have the day off and can dedicate some time to serving others. Serving my community has been one of my top resolutions this year: I feel like I’m at a place in my life that I can really think outside of myself. I also want to set an example for my children. Unfortunately, I’m having a hard time trying to complete that resolution. It’s hard to find organizations that will allow children to come serve alongside adults or have service opportunities during hours that I can find babysitters. I really want to be able to bring my children with me so they can be involved in the community at an early age. While putting together humanitarian aid kits is nice for FHE (and we have done that), I really want my children to meet new people and start feeling a sense of the greater community we live in.
So my question for you all is two-fold. First, do you have plans to join in the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service tomorrow? And have you found ways to include children in serving? Please let me know!
Heather
Heather, I share the same interests. I think you and I will be collaborating to find local to us volunteer opportunities to be done with children.
The quick and easy answer for tomorrow is that neighborhood clean-up can always be done with children. Maybe you can choose a park in your area, invite some neighbors and friends and take some garbage bags to pick up litter. Small ones can find that game of hide and seek exciting and interesting.
My stake for the Sept. 11 Day of Service participated with Parks and Rec. to landscape a nature area. You may be able to contact your local Parks and Rec. to see if they have anything going on tomorrow. Children can be involved in that as well, especially when mama or papa babywears.
Another idea is to make a big pot of something warm and home-cooked, package it in recyclable tupperware and then drive around looking for people who are homeless to give them food. Children can be involved in the cooking and delivery.
Those are a couple of my ideas. I’m looking forward to hearing from others!
I don’t know if you like history or if you live close to a place that does re-enactments, but my kids and I dress up as pioneers during the summer and volunteer at This Is the Place Heritage Park in SL. I know there are many re-enactment sites throughout the US, but not everywhere.
…….You can celebrate Doctor Kings legacy by learning about and teaching your kids how he affected American history.How can you talk about this big issue with children that are 5 and 6?Here are some ideas I recommend Here is a lesson I have done in my classroom for the past few yearsto let children experience prejudice first hand in reference to Martin Luther King Day.My students always seem tocatch on quickly to the issue of prejudice by experiencing it themselves.Materials Plan Comments As hard as it is to slight my children in this lesson I feel that it is a real learning experience for them.How do you teach your children about treating others fairly?Peace and Harmony Misses Moore………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………