Change: Kids Activities to Inspire Activism

Heads up – we’re working behind the scenes to update this post with useful resources! Come back December 1st, 2021 for the new article!

OK, little world-changers – who is ready to DO? We’re big believers that you’re never too young to start changing our world for the better…but where to begin…?  

Find a Picture Book to Inspire Activism

Note: We prefer to shop locally or use what we have at home, but this list contains a few Woodpeckers Crafts and/or Amazon affiliate links for reference. As Amazon Associates, we make a small commission on qualifying purchases.*

• Woke Baby by Mahogany L. Browne
• No!: My First Book of Protest by Julie Merberg
• A is For Activist, Counting on Community, and M is for Movement by Innosanto Nagara
• We Are the Change: Words of Inspiration from Civil Rights Leaders by Harry Belafonte
• Change Sings: A Children’s Anthem by Amanda Gorman
• Peaceful Fights for Equal Rights by Rob Sanders
• The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson
• The Magical Yet by Angela DiTerlizzi
• Hey, Wall: A Story of Art & Community by Susan Verde
• I Walk with Vanessa: A Picture Book Story About a Simple Act of Kindness by Kerascoët
• The Proudest Blue: A Story of Hijab and Family by Ibtihaj Muhammad
• Just Ask!: Be Different, Be Brave, Be You by Sonia Sotomayor
• Kid Activists: True Tales of Childhood from Champions of Change by Robin Stevenson

Teach Kids the Importance of Voting

Did you know that we have a HUGE free printable voting kit to help your kids learn about our democratic voting process? Better yet, the full post includes lots of resources to help teach your kids about how we vote and why it’s such an important outlet for using our voices to create change.

Bookmark These Activism Websites for Kids

DoSomething.org

Wow – I wish there had been something like this around when I was a kid. With projects that range from hosting a park clean-up rally, to creating an anti-bullying comic, to acting as PR rep for your local animal shelter – this site is an ahhh-mazing tool for budding activists (really good inspiration for adults too!)

What a great way to show kids how far some knowledge, planning, effort, and care can go in the fight for good. While this is definitely geared toward older kids, there are lots of good ideas and inspiration for projects you could tweak to be used with younger ones as well.

In their own words: “One of the largest global organizations for young people and social change, our 4.8 million members in 130 countries tackle volunteer campaigns that impact every cause. Poverty. Discrimination. The environment. And everything else. Our promise: Any cause, anytime, anywhere.“

Some of our favorite things about it:

• It doesn’t just share causes – it gives great information and facts
• Encourages group participation & sharing
• Utilizes social media, but doesn’t require it
• Promotes goal-setting, activism, volunteering & community service
• The search provides a super-simple way to find the right cause/project
• Offers TONS of creative projects and ideas for involvement
• Multiple projects can be followed

*Heads Up: In addition to tackling some pretty serious issues that may need more explanation, the activities on this website invite users to create an account in order to participate. An email address is required to set up an account and a cell number is optional for texts – so we’d say this is definitely (at least in the beginning) a kid + parent thing.