Many middle school children are young and inexperienced. But they can still help the community. In fact, there are many great service projects for middle school kids out there. Below are some that we found.
25 Service Projects for Middle School Kids
Adopt a Homeless Family for Christmas
Christmas is the perfect time for service projects for middle school kids. It’s the right opportunity to let the students give back to the world and help in any way they can. One good way is to adopt a homeless family for the holidays. The kids can let that family join them for a Christmas dinner and give the family gifts on Christmas Eve.
Car Wash for Charity
Middle school kids can also choose to wash cars for charity. They can charge much less compared to the prices of big car wash companies. The money can then go to different charity foundations and organizations.
Care for Animals at a Shelter
Cats and dogs at an animal shelter often don’t get the care they need. You can volunteer to help take care of these animals. You can help feed the animals and give them a bath. If the veterinarian is giving vaccines you can help with the paperwork or hold the animals.
Yuda Bands
Yuda Bands focuses on selling handmade bracelets for charity. The money raised funds the education for poor kids in Guatemala and Zimbabwe. It is among the best service projects for middle school kids because it only lasts two weeks and is free of charge. The Yuda Bands organization ships the bracelets and the marketing materials for free.
Make Cards for the Elderly
People at retirement homes can get lonely and sad, especially when their friends and family don’t visit them often. Remind the elderly that the world hasn’t forgotten about them. You can make cards and give them in person. Even an act as simple as this can put a smile on their faces.
Donate Old Clothes
The homeless and the poor do not have the luxury of buying new clothes. You can help out by donating any of your old clothes and starting a donation drive at school. As a matter of fact, donation drives are among the most common service projects for middle school kids. Instead of donating canned food, which some charity groups don’t like, you can give out clothes.
Launch a Recycling Competition
Recycling competitions can help clean the environment. Recycling also creates an opportunity for students to make new, useful things. The competition will be a good means of motivating the students too. The school can then sell the best of the recycled products and the money can go to other charity causes.
Habitat for Humanity
Even middle school students can volunteer for Habitat for Humanity. Students can help build the homes or they can help gather donations. Habitat for Humanity needs a lot of materials and tools. If you can’t join in the construction work you can still go house-to-house to gather nails, screws, and other materials.
Neighborhood Cleanup
If you need service projects for middle school kids that are quick, easy, and free then you can always volunteer to clean up the neighborhood. You can start with raking the leaves in your neighbor’s yard. If the whole school gets involved, the students can go to the park and spend an entire afternoon cleaning. You can even tie this activity to the recycling event.
Organize a Blood Drive
Every day someone needs a blood donation. You can help out the local hospitals and those in need by organizing a blood drive. You’ll have to contact Red Cross and they’ll schedule when they can send in medical professionals. Your job will focus on securing a place and some of the equipment. You’ll need to get chairs, tables, and refreshments. You’ll also be in charge of the paperwork to ensure the blood drive goes smoothly and quickly.
Visiting a Children’s Hospital
Hospitals can be lonely and miserable. This goes even more so for children. You can relieve these children of their pain and sorrow, even for only a short period, by visiting them. You can put on a show like a music show or a talent show. Other students can help the patients by playing with them.
Volunteer at a Soup Kitchen
Soup kitchens feed the poor and the homeless. You can volunteer to help distribute the food. This is especially helpful on busy days with a lot of people. If some of the students know how to cook then they can help out in the kitchen area too. Students can prepare the food, cook the food, and wash the dishes.
Join a Tree-Planting Event
Protecting the environment and fighting climate change is important. Students can take part in joining tree-planting events. Some of these events involve planting seeds on newly plowed soil. Others involve transferring young saplings. Planting trees can also promote renewable energy sources and recycling too.
Make Care Kits for the Homeless
Homeless people often cannot afford some of the amenities people take for granted. You can give them these by putting them together in a neat package. You can get a basket and put in soap, shampoo, towels, toothpaste, and toothbrushes. If all the students get involved then there’ll be able to help a lot of homeless families.
Donate Books to Children
Books are expensive and many children cannot afford them. By running a book donation drive you can provide textbooks for schools in poor areas. If you don’t have extra textbooks for academic purposes you can still donate the books that you have. Storybooks can help improve a young child’s reading and writing skills so even those are highly appreciated.
Organize a Nature Walk
A nature walk can be fun, especially for middle school students. This activity involves walking from the school to a certain location. During the walk, the students can pick up trash and recyclable junk. Other students can hold banners to promote cleaning the environment or recycling. Others can give out educational pamphlets to those they come across in the streets.
Sell Home-Baked Cookies
Here’s a service project that has proven effective over the years. Even the Girl Scouts sell cookies to raise funds. You can start a cookie-baking activity at school and then dedicate a few days to sell these cookies house-to-house. The funds can go to a charity group of your choice.
Volunteer to Repaint Neighbor’s Home
Applying new paint has a lot of great benefits. It protects the house from the elements such as the heat of the sun and heavy rain. New paint prevents the occurrence of cracks and holes. This prevents leaks from happening on the roof and walls.
Join Extra Life
Extra Life is one of the most engaging service projects for middle school kids. The kids can play video games or tabletop games to raise funds. They’ll stream their gaming sessions on platforms like YouTube or Twitch. Online viewers can then donate money to the cause. The money then goes to children’s hospitals.
Send Cards to Soldiers
Soldiers sacrifice a lot for the safety of the country and their loved ones. Middle school students can show their appreciation by writing cards and send them to the local military office. Those cards will go to the soldiers fighting overseas. It will help remind them that they’re fighting for a reason and that the people they’re protecting still care.
Tutor Young Kids After School
You can help the community by being a leader for the younger kids in school. Tutoring them after school is a great way of giving back. You’re preparing them for the challenges ahead while ensuring they can deal with the obstacles right in front of them. You can focus on just students having a hard time with their studies or tutor anyone interested.
Teach the Elderly How to Use Computers
A lot of older people don’t know how to use computers or the Internet. You can help these people catch up with the digital age. Even basic activities like using e-mail and social media sites such as Facebook can be a big help. It will help them communicate more with their peers and family.
Launch an After-School Club
There are many after-school club ideas to organize. You can focus on playing tabletop games, for example. Tabletop games, such as Dungeons and Dragons, help with social anxiety. It also improves reading and writing skills. You can make an after-school club for acting, poetry writing, music, and more.
Read a Book for the Visually Impaired
Blind people don’t have the luxury to enjoy all the books that most people do. There are books printed in Braille but not all of them are. You can organize a group of students to resolve this issue. You can read some books for the blind, allowing them to enjoy the books they may not be able to access.
March for a Cause
One of the best service projects for middle school kids is to march for a cause. It could be a march to support cancer or to bring awareness regarding sexual harassment. You could march to pronounce your support for renewable energy, fight against climate change, or something political in nature.
