Action Club Projects for Children aged 9 - 12 years old


Needs and capabilities

As stated with the previous age group; from six years until twelve children start to become more emotionally aware. They are emotionally aware long before then, but from age six onwards normally represents an important opportunity to help children start to refine their emotions, that is to learn to direct their emotions constructively instead of letting those emotions rule them.

From age nine onwards they naturally begin to care more about others and develop empathy with them. They also are more capable of taking personal responsibility. In fact they can easily be inspired to develop a range of noble sentiments. Actions clubs will help with this but they also need constructive role models so the example you set them through action club activities is very important.

Hero worship is very natural with this group and it is also a good time to inspire them with stories of what great humanitarians have done. People such as Mother Teresa, Mahatma Gandhi, Professor Muhammad Yunus, Martin Luther King Jr. as well as your local heroes. If you look into the history of your local area there will always be people in the past and present who put the needs of others first and their own needs last. For example, many have set up and run orphanages, cared for the medical needs of the least well off, fed the hungry and clothed the naked. Often such heroes are by nature humble and work quietly, not deliberately drawing attention to themselves, but they exist and have existed and will surely be known and remembered somewhere. Elderly people in particular may be able to help here. Another source of inspiration will be what other action clubs have done. Getting an older member of another long established action club also gives them an opportunity to serve by passing on knowledge and inspiration to younger people.

Physically, nine to twelve-year-olds coordination and skills are excellent but they must avoid any heavy manual labour because their bones are still forming and adjusting.

Mentally they understand abstract concepts much easier and so it is always good to explain fully all the details of why they are doing an activity and in particular the expected results. They should also be encouraged to become involved in the planning. Most importantly this age group needs to be given responsibility and trust, but allow them to make mistakes. Only make suggestions when things go wrong but never take over. It's all about learning not perfection.

An excellent resource on stages of maturity for this age group can be found from Education for Life: Chapter 15: The Stages of Maturity & Chapter 17: The Feeling Years.

In summary this age group is capable of most service except heavy physical labour.

'There are no great things, only small things with great love. Happy are those.'

— Mother Teresa

Basic project ideas:

(Please note that some of the ideas link to articles written by people in specific countries often with their own country in mind. If you live in a different country and the core ideas are useful for your action club but some of the information provided is not relevant, then simply use http://www.google.com to find the corresponding information and resources for your country)

Environment
Bringing the community together
Seasonal projects
Practical work for empowerment
Working with adults, young people and younger children in need
Constructive problem solving in the community
Community health and safety
Working for and with animals


Environment

Run a 'No Junk Mail Please' campaign. Help local residents to put 'No Junk Mail Please' signs and stickers on their mail box. Give them information and assist them if necessary to get their names and addresses off junk mail lists

Run a campaign to encourage the community to use canvas bags instead of disposable plastic and paper bags. You can even sell canvas bags to the community if they don't already have them and use the profits for other worthwhile causes

Start a campaign to encourage and assist people to switch their ordinary incandescent light bulbs for energy efficient ones. (A very effective way of reducing your community's energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. In the UK changing a 100W bulb for a £5 energy efficient bulb saves about £100 over its life time of 10,000 hours)

	Run a 'Choose Natural Cleaning Products' campaign to help members of your local community to become aware of environmentally friendly but effective cleaning products that are also cheap to acquire
	Organise a campaign to help the members and the community to create green roofs layered with soil and plants on top of their homes, buildings and work places

Organise a campaign to help hotels, motels, hostels etc. in your area become environmentally friendly. Here is a separate link to some information the action club can provide them with as part of the campaign

Run a general campaign to help local residents and businesses reduce their personal impact on global warming. See also this link

Organise a campaign to help the community learn about eating more vegetarian meals to conserve natural resources and help reduce poverty in developing countries

Collect unwanted mobile phones and recycle them or pass them onto those who may need them for emergency purposes, for instance elderly people

Organise a campaign to help your community to conserve water. You can also help them to store rain water that would normally drain into storm water drains and be wasted. This can then be used to water gardens when water is scarce

	Tree Planting, creating gardens and planting flowers for the public's enjoyment or to bring colour and life to public areas that need it. (You may need to get the permission of the local authorities for this)
	Clearing and cleaning vacant lots and land that has been neglected and become an eyesore

Collecting litter especially from such places as river banks, parks and beaches. Analyse its likely origins and causes and organise a campaign to keep the areas clean

	The removal of non-native plants and other invasive species that can threaten local nature habitats and wildlife parks
	Creating a habitat for wildlife
	Organising composting projects for members' homes as well as campaigns to inform and help the local community set up the same. (See also this link)

'Compost through worm farming' campaign with a small-do-it-yourself worm farm. The advantage of this is that the waste is turned into a liquid which can be drained off and used as liquid fertiliser on gardens

	Organise a campaign to help people in your local community save money while producing less rubbish and recycling
	Run a 'Re-Use, Re-Fill and Re-Charge' campaign to help your local community reduce their waste contribution to the planet

Organise a recycling project for all members and the community

Organise a campaign to recycle computers and peripherals

	Organise a campaign to help your community to master the basics of plastics recycling
	Run a campaign to recirculate old and unused books

Organise a campaign to encourage local businesses to be more environmentally aware of what they can do; for example paper recycling

	Organise a cigarette butt clean-up campaign to educate people about the environmental damage caused by cigarette butts as well as encouraging the use of pocket ash trays
	Organise a campaign to stop mercury getting into the environment and wreaking havoc
	Organise a campaign to encourage car pooling in your community

Help migrating birds recover from a continued decline in numbers because of human environmental destruction and lack of natural rest, recovery, feeding sites

	Help scientists to research, rescue, rehabilitate and protect endangered species in your local area
	Help scientists to conduct environmental research projects in your local area
	Help Park Rangers conserve the environment

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Bringing the community together

Often when people move into a community where they don't know anyone, they can become isolated and lonely. One solution to this would be to use the action club as a welcoming committee

'Everytime you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.'

— Mother Teresa

Organising and putting on plays and concerts for the community. This can give the members the opportunity to use their creativity especially if they write the plays and determine what music will be played

Seasonal projects

Run a campaign to educate and encourage people to give environmentally conscious holiday gifts

Run a campaign in your community around holiday and festive times to prevent drink driving related accidents and deaths

Practical work for empowerment

Help plan volunteer projects for members' birthdays and help them do the same for their brothers, sisters, nephews and nieces

Projects that empower youngsters and increase their confidence, such as giving them responsibility to plan and coordinate a part of an assembly line. For example, helping to put together emergency supply packages for disaster relief

Fundraising through selling food, arts and crafts etc. that the youngsters helped to make themselves and sell themselves through a stall etc. The more they plan, organise and do everything the better

Working with adults, young people and younger children in need

Working with elderly people, the sick and hungry, young people with learning disabilities (not adults) and other groups that offer the chance to further develop social interaction skills. For example, gardening, raking leaves, washing windows for a senior citizen etc.

Organising and putting on plays and concerts for people in places where they don't get out much like care homes etc. This can give the members the opportunity to use their creativity especially if they write the plays and determine what music will be played

Help to record and preserve the life stories and memories of elderly people. This helps to record history and helps elderly people pass on life lessons to young people

Making cards and writing letters for people who need some upliftment, support and encouragement. For example, widows and widowers, women in battered women refuges and homes, people in hospitals etc.

'Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.'

— Mother Teresa

Help victims of domestic violence who have fled to refuges. Most often they leave their homes in a hurry and leave all their possessions behind. They benefit immensely from care packages with basic items e.g. soap etc. Your action club could also write them letters of support and encouragement. Women in this situation often feel worthless and unloved. A warm letter of support and encouragement from young people who care can have a huge impact in aiding their recovery by helping them back onto their feet to start a new life

Get together with elderly people in your community and knit teddy bears for orphans

Put together baby-supply-kits containing basic items such as reusable diapers and gentle soap for new born babies born into impoverished communities

Collect toys to be given to underprivileged children and children in hospitals

Organise to collect colouring books and crayons for hospital emergency wards

Collect school supplies for schools in impoverished communities

Help younger school children with there homework as well as any other problems they may face growing up that the members faced when they were that age and know all about. (Mentoring)

Help teach younger children living in slums whose parents are too poor to send them to school by teaching them to read and write

Help blind or visually impaired people; for example, read books and / or newspapers to blind or visually impaired people and /or record it on tape for them to listen to when they like

Help to educate people in your community about deaf children so they may get a chance to lead a normal life and not be treated as dumb and useless social rejects

Constructive problem solving in the community

Identify problems and possible positive solutions to those problems in schools and local organisations and work with the school's or organisation's leaders to bring about positive changes

Graffiti and vandalism usually disempowers the community by harming people's ability to take pride in their community. It often causes valuable community members to leave and draws gang culture and drug problems. Action clubs can do a lot to overcome this.

Community health and safety

Organise a campaign to prevent bullying by introducing child mediation programs into schools in your community (See also this link)

Organise a campaign to prevent cyber-bullying amongst children and young people

'If we are to teach real peace in this world, and if we are to carry on a real war against war, we shall have to begin with the children.'

— Mahatma Gandhi

Take your action club grocery shopping in your community for elderly people and sick people who may become malnourished without help

'Service which is rendered without joy helps neither the servant nor the served. But all other pleasures and possessions pale into nothingness before service which is rendered in a spirit of joy.'

— Mahatma Gandhi

Get together with elderly people in your community and knit chemotherapy hats for cancer and leukemia patients

Get together with elderly people in your community and make home-made baby blankets. Better still run a campaign to get even more people involved

Organise a 'Walking School Bus' to allow young children to walk to school safely

Make emergency contact cards for people in your community so if they arrive in hospitals unconscious or unable to communicate, the hospital staff will know who they are, what their medical needs are and how to contact their loved ones

Run a campaign to recruit people in your community to go and volunteer to work with children with special needs at one or two week holiday camps

Run a campaign to collect all the unused eye glasses in your community for redistribution

Run a campaign to help children who have lost their hair by collecting hair to be made into special wigs for them

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Working with animals

Working at local animal shelters, dog walking, petting cats, playing with kittens and feeding animals (Check with those who run the shelters first to find out about any health issues that may be of concern; for example, outbreaks of contagious illnesses)

Help to get cats and dogs at animal shelters adopted. (Click for more information on adopting dogs) (Click for more information on adopting cats)

Help get people in your community to foster new born kittens and take the pressure off over crowded animal shelters especially in spring and summer

	Take gentle natured animals to visit people in care homes etc. Or better still organise a campaign to get everyone in the community with friendly pets to participate. See also Pets as Therapy
	Create posters to help prevent animal cruelty to neglected chained dogs

'The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated.'

— Mahatma Gandhi

Help to encourage local pet owners to get pet identification tags for their pets

Help lost dogs and cats get back home (Only for countries that are free from rabies)

Still stuck for ideas? Have a read of some of the real life projects young volunteers have taken on.

We need to grow our list above and to do this most effectively we need your help. If your action club serves a worthwhile cause we have not yet listed, please note down the step-by-step instructions you took as well as a description and email it to projects@oneworldonepeople.org. Please also feel free to include photos. We can then post your project on this website for other action clubs to take inspiration from and copy. That way your good idea can spread all over the world and make an even bigger difference.

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