I am beginning and ending this post with kid artists and the inspiration they find. It’s never too late to find ours. I recently read about a community that brought people back to their parks by building bird house art projects. It exploded with creativity of the young and old. And better yet, it attracted the birds of many colors and has become a favorite gathering place.
This drawing is by Anja Rozen, a 13-year-old primary school student in Slovenia, she is the winner of the International Plakat Miru competition. Anja was chosen from 600,000 children around the world. “My drawing represents the land that connects us and unites us. Humans are knit together. If one gives up, others fall. We are all connected to our planet and to each other, but unfortunately, we have little knowledge of it. We are intertwined together. “
Kids Making a Difference
MISSION
To shine a light on kids taking action to care for the planet and the wildlife around us.
At Kids Making A Difference, we are committed to empowering and encouraging social responsibility in kids across the globe, because we know that even small acts and young people can create BIG change.
Kids Making A Difference partners with universities, non-profits, companies, and the government to promote opportunities and simple acts that support healthy wildlife and a healthy planet.
Making A Difference partners with universities, non-profits, companies, and the government to promote opportunities and simple acts that support healthy wildlife and a healthy planet.
Severn Cullis-Suzuki (12) at United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, 1992.
Known as “The Girl Who Silenced the World for 5 Minutes,” Severn Cullis-Suzuki, is daughter of environmental activist David Suzuki. She raised the money to attend the Earth Summit with three fellow students to present environmental issues from a youth perspective. The video of her powerful speech has been viewed over 31 million times!
Max (16) and Gavin (11) Guinn – founders of Climate Change is 4 Real.
The Guinn brothers launched the Climate Change Is 4 Real (CC4R) to virtually connect leaders in climate change, ocean health, and mass animal extinction with classrooms and student groups across the globe.
Action Ideas — Kids Making a Difference
Kids of any age can make a difference for their schools, communities and the planet. We recently met an artistic 5th grader at The McGillis School in Salt Lake City, Utah, who is doing a lot to make her world a better place. Meet Willow Arens, who reached out to us to thank us for the work we do as a nonprofit and creative reuse center. We replied and asked her for ideas for how kids can make a difference through art, just like her. Here’s what she taught us.
One simple thing kids can do to help their communities is support nonprofit organizations that they believe in. They can volunteer, help raise money for them, or send a kind letter to boost morale. Willow sent us a letter thanking us for what we do and it made our day! “We were doing something called a ‘friendly letter’ [for school] where you write to a local business that we like a lot and tell them why we like it….[I wrote to Clever Octopus] because I like art a lot,” said Willow about her assignment. Hearing from community members like her encouraged us to keep doing our important work. We also love the octopus artwork she made for us!
Willow also helps the planet by creating art made of sustainable materials. She uses found objects like rocks and driftwood in her art. Willow said, “Sometimes when I’m on river trips, I find driftwood. I like making stuff from the driftwood. Because it’s dead, it would just decompose if nobody uses it.” Making art out of what you already have around you also helps keep unnecessary waste out of the landfill. Kids are really good at thinking creatively about even the most ordinary things!
No matter what you make art out of, Willow says that creating art helps make the world a better place. She explained that making art helps the community “because you can express how you feel.” And when you get better at expressing your feelings, you get along better with those around you and make more friends. Her art practice has certainly helped her community and her friends!
Arbor Day is soon approaching. Find a park and plant a tree. And follow its potential. Then think back now and again on this simple act of kindness for our home planet. It’s how we do better.
You must be logged in to post a comment.