A Grown-up’s Guide to Six Causes That Kids Love

Want to get kids into giving? Don’t use guilt or lectures. Instead, engage your child’s innate sense of empathy and wonder. Use this guide to work with your child’s compassion for animals, the planet, and other kids. Here are six charitable causes that kids love:

Wild animals. Like animals of the savannah and plain, kids often feel a bit wild. Play into your child’s natural tendencies, and seek out charitable opportunities involving lions, tigers and hares.

Like many zoos across the country, the Smithsonian National Zoological Park in Washington, D. C., offers an “Adopt a Species” program. Funds help provide services to zoo animals, and in exchange, families receive a personalized certificate, color photo and fact sheet about their animal. Raise money for this nonprofit and other nonprofits.

But if you don’t live near a zoo, organizations like the World Wildlife Fund offer opportunities to “symbolically adopt” an animal. Families can give just $25 (and receive a photo and certificate) or up to $250 (receiving a plush animal, framed certificate and photo, gift box and gift bag), with proceeds going towards WWF’s general animal conservation efforts.

Domestic animals. Kids adore dogs, cats and barnyard animals. As they learn to feed, pet and groom your family pet, a child can generalize that need for care to animals in your community.

Want a surefire way to really engage your kid? Visit the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) website for kids, Animaland . This colorful site offers pet care tips, veterinary careers, cartoons and ways to help animals – plus those beloved animal jokes. Browse the site together, then set up a lemonade or brownie stand to raise funds for the ASPCA , Humane Society of the US , or your local shelter.

The environment. Kids love rolling in the dirt, swimming in lakes, and hiking through sky-high woods. It’s no surprise that kids also worry about climate change, endangered forests and care of resources like water and air. So the non-profit Rainforest Action Network set up a site just for kids, Rainforest Heroes . Rainforest Heroes’ activities, maps, and action items educate and entertain. And RAN’s giving opportunities turn abstract ideas into concrete relief in the form of the organization’s “adopt an acre” program, which provides funds for forest communities. Rainforest Heroes even has fundraising ideas and examples: students in Parishville, NY, raised $267.11 from a bike-a-thon benefiting RAN.

Health. Your child might know someone battling a health issue such as cancer, diabetes or a genetic disorder. Or perhaps your child has dealt with a surprise surgery or hospital stay. Supporting research, cures and children’s hospitals empowers kids who are seeking ways to cope with uncertainty. Get your child involved in a race or fundraiser for a favorite health-related charity relay, or look into opportunities with your local children’s hospital.

The Boston Children’s Hospital’s site, Generation Cures , offers kids’ stories, interactive games and video sneak-peeks of the hospital’s workings. For $35, kids receive a bracelet as they advance through the Caduceus game levels.

Education. Given the choice of rising with the sun to work all day for pennies or go to school, kids know they’d choose the latter. Yet for many children around the world, school isn’t an option – they must join the workforce to help their families, and education may not be provided for free. Kids around the world need pencils, papers, books, teachers and other learning resources.

That’s where organizations like Asha for Education step in – and your kids can step up. Asha for Education offers kids in India ample learning opportunities in traditional settings, vocational schools and special-needs-focused schools. Families can help sponsor a project, from $5-$20 per month, or donate to the larger organization.

If you’ve got a daughter, look into organizations like Camfed . Camfed offers learning opportunities for schoolgirls in four developing African countries, who often must drop out to care for family members. Read over the site’s descriptions of educational options together, and choose the option that speaks to both of you. 

Social Justice. Turn the “it’s not fair” battle into something more meaningful. Equality can be a galvanizing battle cry for kids concerned about issues of justice and peace.

Channel frustration (and put your kids’ fight over the Wii in perspective) by looking into Amnesty International 's kids page , which offers games, activities, and education on human rights. Letter-writing tips help kids interested in corresponding with prisoners jailed for political reasons.

Or if your child has seen devastating images of poverty around the world, your family can sponsor a child through a group like Plan International USA . As a family, you can write to your sponsor child, and send photos and holiday presents.

By Lora Shinn