8 Ways Volunteering with Children Transforms Lives
"The child is both a hope and a promise for mankind." - Maria Montessori
Do you agree? While some people believe volunteering with children is one of the most rewarding experiences, for others it fills them with fear. I’ll admit, I was always in the fearful camp. For years, children intimidated me. I was that person that preferred to be around pets/plants/potatoes - anything but little people! That was until I discovered Workaway.
I never imagined that one day I’d volunteer with children, never mind become a mother myself. And I have Workaway to thank for opening my eyes to this whole new realm of adventure. Where your backpack is filled with boundless potential to shape futures. Not just tick off countries from your bucket list. Where you no longer hop from one place to the next, but instead your impact is measured in smiles and laughter. It’s an invitation to be a beacon of change and a mentor of hope. Volunteering with children transforms lives - both yours and theirs. Here’s how…
Ways Volunteering with Children Transforms Lives
1. Connect with Your Inner Child
Life can get a little too serious sometimes. Before we know it we’re in an endless cycle of commutes, bills and chores. We forget to appreciate the small things in life as we’re too worried about “the big things" like careers or mortgages.
By shifting your perspective towards the little joys, you’ll discover what truly matters. This encourages contentment as you’ll realise travel can bring true happiness, not material items.
By volunteering with children, you’ll embrace your inner child. This brings back a sense of playfulness and joy. It helps to reduce stress, promote happiness, and bring more lightheartedness into your life.
2. The Chance to be a Role Model
Have you ever sat at your desk or been scrolling on your phone and thought, “what is my purpose?” When you’re working for someone else, or comparing your life to someone else's, it can be hard to find what really makes you happy. Workaway can help you find that purpose and having the opportunity to be a role model will really drive this discovery.
As a volunteer, you serve as a positive role model. You inspire children to aspire for more as you expose them to diverse experiences. This will ignite their ambition (and yours!) to broaden their perspectives. Seeing the impact of your actions and the positive changes in others' lives can be deeply fulfilling and reinforce your sense of purpose.
3. Boost Your CV
On that note, volunteering with children won’t just boost your life personally, but professionally too. It adds valuable experience to your CV, showcasing your commitment to social causes, teamwork, and adaptability, which can be attractive to future employers or educational institutions.
Whether it’s teaching a language or running a sports camp, volunteering with children is the perfect way to test drive your dream job as well as build real-life experience. Did you know we can even provide a reference letter? This can help put you ahead of the competition!
4. Help Break Cycles of Poverty
While there are many ways to participate in volunteer projects that involve children (more on that later) by sharing your time with social impact projects in particular, you can help break the cycle of poverty. Your volunteering efforts can help provide educational support, access to resources, and opportunities that children might not otherwise have.
Not forgetting, your positive impact often extends beyond individual children into their communities. Empowered, educated children can become catalysts for positive change. They will contribute to the development and prosperity of their communities in the long run. Imagine being part of something that epic?
5. Create More Memorable Experiences
Sure, snapping selfies at yet another temple is a fun reminder of your travels but surely there’s better memories to be made? The joy of volunteering with children, witnessing their growth, and seeing the impact of your efforts can create lasting memories and a sense of fulfilment. Trust me, there’s no other feeling like it.
While it’s fun to sip cocktails on a beach or souvenir shop in world famous markets, these memories fade eventually. Witnessing a child score a goal after teaching them a new technique, watching their eyes light up after trying your mum’s lasagne recipe or saying a new word for the first time, simply hits differently. These memories will enrich your trip and fuel your desire to continue making a difference.
6. Ignites Your Curiosity
Travel can be tiring and testing at times. Especially if you’ve been on the road a while, you’ll soon find comfort in routine and gravitate towards the same experiences. Instead, by volunteering with children you’ll be exploring the world through their eyes. It’s a whole new level of adventure.
This is because children possess an innate curiosity about the world. Rekindling your inner child's curiosity will inspire continuous learning, exploration, and a thirst for knowledge. Routine goes out the window as suddenly there are distractions, conversations and memories popping up out of the places you least expect.
Your days will be unpredictable and full of surprises, helping you to appreciate the little things and reaffirm why you’re on this journey in the first place.
7. Open Your Eyes to a New Family Dynamic
This might be a little too deep for some people, but Workaway actually helped me realise that one day I’d like to be a parent. During my first Workaway experience at a homestay, I volunteered with a family who had four children and it completely changed my view on family life.
I’d only ever known my culture and society’s expectations from the country I grew up in. By volunteering with this family I witnessed - and was part of - a completely different family dynamic. One that prioritised freedom, travel and cultural exchange. Where the parents believed nature was the best classroom, curiosity should be celebrated not suppressed and that we can try to teach children all about life but that actually, children will teach us what life is all about.
Volunteering with children might also have the opposite effect. It may help you realise you’re blissfully living child free for a reason. However, it can still teach us so much about relationships, communication and handling conflict, ultimately influencing our own family dynamic back home too.
8. Learning and Teaching Moments
For me, this is one of the biggest takeaways from my time volunteering with children. Put simply, it's a two-way street: while you're teaching and guiding children, you also learn from their resilience, creativity, and outlook on life.
Children are experts at living in the present. Their ability to fully engage in activities without worrying about the past or future reminds us of the importance of mindfulness and being present in the moment. This is a skill we so often forget.
They also see the world through unfiltered eyes, often asking questions that challenge our assumptions and societal norms. Their perspective can encourage us to question our beliefs - not many adults possess this magical skill.
Finally, children are typically authentic in expressing their emotions. Whereas as adults, we spend so much of our energy trying to control or suppress ours. Observing their genuine emotional responses can inspire us to be more open and authentic about our own feelings. Who needs expensive therapy when you have Workaway, huh?
Types of Volunteering Projects with Children
Hopefully you’re now feeling inspired to volunteer with children and may be wondering how to get started. The good news is that there are so many types of volunteer projects where you can make a big impact on little humans. Here are just a handful of examples:
- Education and Teaching: Volunteering in schools, community centres, or summer camps to teach subjects like English, music, science, maths or art. Intrigued to learn more? Check out our teaching projects or read more about Workawayer Judith who volunteered as a teacher in a village school in Morocco.
- Homestay: Instead of volunteering with an entire school, why not start with one family? As mentioned from my own Workaway experiences, homestays have fuelled my passion for volunteering with children as they offered an immersive cultural experience. I find being part of a family creates deeper connections, understanding, and a more authentic engagement with both kids and culture.
- Sports and Recreation: Whether you’re a yogi, fitness fanatic or surf enthusiast there are endless ways to showcase your sporty skills with Workaway. From coaching teams to leading recreational programs, your time can benefit children by promoting physical health, encouraging teamwork, and teaching valuable life skills in an enjoyable and engaging way.
- Arts and Creative Expression: Engaging children in creative pursuits like music, dance, drama, painting, or crafting helps to encourage self-expression and skill development. There are so many Workaway locations to nurture the artist in us as well as fuel your own creativity with kids.
- Community Development: This means participating in community projects that directly or indirectly benefit children. This includes projects such as building schools, playgrounds, libraries, or infrastructure improvements.
Empowering Children: Volunteer Success Stories on Workaway
We have a wealth of success stories from our Workaway community who have dived into the world of volunteering with children. From homeschooling to NGOs, there are so many ways your time and enthusiasm can make a difference and these Workawayers share how…
Hopefully this post has opened your eyes to the ways volunteering with children can genuinely transform lives. While boosting your CV or getting hands-on experience is an obvious benefit, there is no denying that this experience can be so much more than that.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned from volunteering with children it's that children often dream big without the limitations of doubt or fear. This inspires us as adults to break down our own mental barriers and embrace a more fearless approach to life. Along the way you’ll rediscover your inner child, reconnecting you to a sense of innocence, wonder, and appreciation for the simple joys in life.
All while you contribute to the well being of young people and their future. This, in time, will create a ripple effect of positive change. That doesn’t sound so scary, does it?
About Lauren
Growing up in a small coastal village in Scotland inspired Lauren to seek adventure and challenge the norm. Armed with just her backpack and trusty travel companion Darren, she quit her day job to liv
