During the summer, families tend to have more time together. Children are on summer break and parents are planning vacations. If volunteering as a family is part of your summer plans, here are ten tips to make volunteering as a family more fun!

Try it before committing long term! You don’t have to commit to a summer’s worth of volunteering all at once, and you don’t have to commit to a single project for the entire summer. It’s ok to try a few different things as a family. You may find two or three projects that everyone enjoys!

Be prompt, courteous, and eager to help. Before showing up to volunteer, take some time to find out what you’ll be doing, what you’ll need to bring, and when you need to be there. Being prepared means more time doing the fun part of volunteering!

Praise and encourage kids’ efforts! Little hands can do big things! Make sure you let kids know that you’re proud of them for the work they’re doing, and let them know that their work is as important as the work that you’re doing!

How was it? Swap thoughts and stories. Take some time to talk about what your family did. Talk about what you liked best about the project, and the things that could have gone better. Talk about the people that you served and what the work you did means to them.

Celebrate! What a great achievement! Awesome! You just volunteered together! Take some time to do something special together as a family! Take a walk together, have an ice cream, or make a special meal. It doesn’t matter if you volunteered for an hour or a whole day, celebrate together!

Scrapbook memories and keep a volunteer calendar. When you come back from volunteering, take some time as a family to bring together your favorite memories about volunteering. It gives you another opportunity to talk about what you did together, and you get something to look back on to remind you how fun it was!

Ready for more? Brainstorm ideas together! Have you thought about designing your own service project as a family? You can make a project that’s uniquely yours. Who knows, you might start the next big thing in family volunteering! If you need some ideas for your own projects, check out our project ideas.

Invite other friends and families to come along! Volunteering as a family gives you more time together and an opportunity to learn things about each other you might not know! Bring along other friends and families to share in the fun and become closer to them, too!

Do you have plans to volunteer as a family this summer? Awesome! Let us know about them in the comments!