Thinking about volunteering during your gap year? Volunteering with children can be one of the most fun ways to do this, as well as one in which you can reap immediate results. The very nature of children: open – curious and filled with wonder – makes this type of volunteering hard to equal.
You can apply to join a childcare volunteering programs and help children in destinations like Africa, Asia, Europe and South America. Projects can be joined every month of the year.
Projects can vary from orphanages, as well as schools, recreation centers, sports leagues and tutoring centers. Such volunteer work can be emotionally draining – it’s hard to see pain, trauma, sickness or need in a child’s face – but more often than not, it will tug your heartstrings with joy.
Featured Programs
Community Work in Cape Town
• 2-12 weeks
• Price from £1,545
Volunteer with Children in Fiji
• 1-12 weeks
• Price from £1,500
How to Volunteer Helping with Children
Here are some top tips if you are thinking about applying:
• Dress modestly: most developing countries are far more conservative than western countries; and loose, breathable clothing is more comfortable for working and playing with children
• Bring small tokens: little gifts for the kids enable you to break the ice and overcome shy children’s reticence. Suggested items are gum, stickers, pencils and balloons
• Take lots of pictures: another great ice-breaker! Children everywhere love to have their photo taken; and even more, love to see themselves on the digital camera screen. You will have more little people striking a pose than you can begin to imagine
• Be generous with praise: you will undoubtedly find these children eager to please and eager to learn. They are most likely also children who have not gotten a lot of special attention in their lives. Look for ways to praise and encourage anything you can
• Seek out the wallflowers: in any group setting of children, there will be plenty who are outgoing and demand your attention. There will also be the bashful ones who hang back and can be easily overlooked. • Keep your eyes open for these kids and try to give them special attention, even if it’s just a smile or a squeeze on the arm
• Be mindful of cultural differences: the coordinators of your volunteer project should give you plenty of guidance; be sure to follow it. Be aware and respectful
• Have fun! don’t be afraid to show your goofy, silly side. Kids of all ages love it. Lead a game or a song, or show off your best kid-friendly skill, whether that is shadow puppets or face painting or cartwheels
• For short-term volunteers especially, keep in mind that you’re not going to change the world in a few days or weeks. You are one vital aspect to an entire project and you have to think of your experience as part of a whole.
Experiences & Reviews
Colin from New Zealand “Taking a gap year with a purpose, such as serving others through volunteering, has many advantages,” he says. “It is a fantastic way to grow as a person, to develop self-confidence and self-esteem, and is a tool for self discovery and identity formation.”
Richard McMahon of Bath, U.K., worked at a school in Ghana, notorious for overcrowded classrooms and a lack of skilled teachers. “Teaching in Ghana was such a worthwhile experience, not only for me but for the kids I taught as well,” he says. “The impact you make on the school is something that benefits the children massively, allowing them to experience fun and a different method of teaching.”
Ashley Saunders of the USA also volunteered with kids in Africa, at the St. Monica’s Children’s Home in Kenya when she was 24. “It opened a world I had never known,” Ashley says. “I’ve never learned so much about myself and been so humbled by the understanding of what I don’t know about the world through any other experience.”
“When you are young yourself you can start a big sister or brother relationship when volunteering with children,” says Raquel Turner. “You can be a role model for them, especially when you are a college graduate.”
Rachel Vallejo, 22, found this very much to be the case on her trip to an orphanage in India. A University of Texas graduate, Rachel learned of the opportunity through her Writing for Non-Profits class professor and sums up her experience in one word: amazing.
“I can’t explain everything I learned about myself,” she says. “Forming relationships with the kids was definitely the best part, and they made all the travel and stress of being somewhere completely new completely worth it.”
Sometimes, the biggest take-away volunteers have is whatever they found surprising. “Being American, I expected to be in desperate need of all the “stuff” I have access to on a daily basis,” Rachel says, “but I found it absolutely liberating to not have or need any of that.”
Would she do it again? “I would get on that 14 hour flight right now if I could!”
If you are looking for more of a career, view our guide to the best gap year jobs.