The summer months can be the most challenging for parents when it comes to activities that keep kids entertained. If you don’t have summer camps or other kid-friendly activities lined up, you’ve got to get really creative when it comes to finding ways to entertain your little ones (without losing your mind). The summer months are a great opportunity to engage children in volunteer activities and teach them the importance of giving back.

Soldiers’ Angels has many kid-friendly opportunities to give back to our Military. While you can’t sign your child up to be a volunteer directly, you can sign yourself up and involve them in these great activities.

Crafting Opportunities

We have many wonderful virtual volunteer activities that support our Military families, deployed Service Members, and Veterans in different ways. Many of these involve hands-on, creative activities perfectly suited for kids! As an adult, you will need to register as an Angel volunteer and go through our verification process first. Once completed, there’s a whole world of opportunities available that you could easily do with your children. Here are some that we’ve found to be kid-friendly. 

Make No-Sew Blankets

A blanket may seem like a simple gift, but think how much warmth and comfort your favorite blanket provides for you when you’re cold or lonely. Each year we host Operation: Warm Winter, where we collect winter items –  one of which is blankets. Kids can participate by making No-Sew Blankets and/or writing a special message to go with them. No-Sew Blankets are super easy to make and are a very kid-friendly activity! Learn more here. Operation Warm Winter runs from July 1 – September 30 in preparation for the winter ahead. 

Learn to Crochet, Knit, or Sew

Sewing, crocheting, and knitting are all great activities for older children and a great way to teach patience and concentration. One of our Virtual Volunteer activities is sending handmade pieces to Veteran patients, Deployed Service Members, and their families. Scarves, hats, and quilts are handcrafted for Active Duty Service Members and Veteran patients while baby blankets and other items are sent to expectant Military families. Learn more about this team here.

Collect or Create items for Care Packages

Supporting deployed Service Members through “Deployed Adoptions” is a great way to teach children the spirit of giving and to let their creativity soar! Signing up for the team means committing to send your Service Member at least four letters and one care package a month until they return home.

Adopting a Service Member means you get to know their likes and dislikes so you can send them treats and reminders of home. It’s not just what’s inside the box either – sometimes the best part is decorating the inside of the box to match a theme. Some decorate with their Service Member’s favorite sports team. Some choose holiday themes – it’s all about creativity and adding a personal touch to each box.

Care packages are a great way to teach children about Deployment, and the many things we take for granted that our Service Members go without having. It’s the perfect mix of sending supplies and sending personalized items to brighten someone’s day. Putting together a care package means shopping for supplies but also getting creative with the decoration of the box, and even some of the things you put in it, like baked goods, handmade items, drawings, letters, etc. Here are some fun and crafty projects your children can make for their care packages:

• Friendship bracelets
• Popsicle Stick Flags
• Bookmarks
• Clothespin airplanes

Card Making

Paper crafts are always fun to do with kids – especially younger children. Cards are easy to make and can also improve your child’s motor and creativity skills. One of the ways we support Service Members, Veterans, and their families is by sending encouraging or celebratory cards and notes. Not in the mood to make the cards? It’s perfectly fine to use store-bought cards and write messages in them.

Letter Writing

Our deployed troops love getting mail! We have lots of teachers and parents who get their children involved in letter writing. Some children write their own letters and some send drawings to go along with the letters their parents send. Our troops LOVE getting letters and drawings from kids! Letter writing is a lost art and a valuable skill to teach in the digital age.

Baking

Some of the best memories spent with our parents are usually in the kitchen making yummy treats. Pass that tradition down with a fun twist – make them for our troops! As an Angel volunteer, you can get in on the action and bake goods for our deployed Military heroes. Cookies, brownies, cupcakes, rice crispy treats… they do it all!

Volunteer Opportunities

Soldiers’ Angels also offers many on-the-ground volunteer opportunities that children or teenagers can help with over the summer.

Volunteer at Mobile Food Distributions

Every month we host mobile food distributions in Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, San Antonio, Orlando, and Charleston. We love it when kids get involved! Activities include: packing bags of food and handing out the bags to the many Veterans who come through. Age restrictions to participate vary by location. Click for more information on Mobile Food Distributions

Host a Fundraiser

It’s hard to ignore the crazy stunts people pull on social media channels like TikTok and Instagram. So why not use those tools for good and start a fundraiser? Fundraisers are a great way to teach kids important skills like customer service, goal setting, math/money management, and the power of doing for others. They don’t have to be boring: it can be an epic challenge like pushups every day or handstands all summer long. Maybe even take the viral plank challenge and get people to donate to see you do it! Whether it’s a bake sale, lemonade stand, or something one-of-a-kind, it’s a fun summer activity that promotes giving back. Soldiers’ Angels makes it easy to get creative and dream big with our peer-to-peer fundraising platform. Learn more here.

Host a Collection Drive

Soldiers’ Angels is always in need of supplies for care packages, box lunches, hygiene kits, or other programs we run. One fun way to get kids engaged and teach them about charity is to help them do a collection drive for supplies. Set one up in front of your favorite store, gather friends together, or do one with your civic organization. Collection drives are a great way to involve the community. Click here for info on hosting a collection drive.

As you can see, there are lots of opportunities to give back and keep your children entertained this summer! If you do sign up to lend a hand, please send us pictures! We’d love to share photos of your summertime activites on social media. Submit your photos via our Media Portal and be sure to include a quick description of what is in the photo!

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