With so much to juggle in the classroom, it’s important to take the time to explore topics like community helpers with your students. Learning about those who keep our communities running and safe is a vital part of childhood development that can create meaningful discussions for kids of all ages and backgrounds. To make it easier than ever before, I’ve put together this list of exciting community helper activities centered around helping your students better understand what each role entails while having fun at the same time!
Community Helper Books
When I first started teaching there weren’t many community helper books to choose from. The ones I did find had picture examples in them that were at least 20 years old!
Now, there’s a whole host of awesome community helpers books to choose from. Many of them are part of a series that highlights different jobs and their responsibilities. Here are some of my favorites:
- Whose Hat is This? (part of a series)
- Helpers in Your Neighborhood
- Clothesline Clues to Jobs People Do
- Delivering Your Mail (part of a series)
- Helpers in my Community
- Whose Hands Are These?
If you are looking to add more social studies books to your classroom library check out my extensive list of social studies books for kindergarten!
Community Helper Activities
Community helper activities are so fun for students because they already know a little bit about each profession and they love to use their imagination and put themselves into a grown-up’s shoes.
Using blocks during center time lets students setup up a town and practice using their community helpers’ vocabulary. Here are my favorite pieces from Melissa and Doug which have lasted me for YEARS without breaking:
Once your students have learned the basics of writing sentences you can always add a mailbox to your writing center and have students deliver the mail to each other to mimic a mail carrier’s job. (side note – one year I took my students to the local post office that was within walking distance of our school for a field trip. It was the most boring field trip I’ve ever planned : )
One of my very favorite activities in the classroom is directed drawing. Here’s a great directed drawing of a construction worker (the artist has other community helper tutorials as well) from one of my favorite directed drawing tutorial spots! If you are looking for more directed drawing activities check out my post about the best places to find directed drawing tutorials.
Here are some other great videos that give an overview of what community helpers are from Youtube Kids:
- Different Jobs and Professions
- All About Community Helpers
- Sesame Street – Heroes in Your Neighborhood
Community Helper Resources
The great thing about community helper activities is that they can be talked about in lessons all throughout the year.
In November when you are teaching about fire safety, you can talk about firefighters and the jobs that they do. In February when you are teaching about dental health, you can introduce your students to the job of a dentist.
Social studies resources can be lacking in kindergarten (my school didn’t provide me with anything), so that’s why I created this social studies interactive notebook. It’s got a huge section on community helpers, along with resources for school rules, famous Americans, holidays, maps, transportation, and more! Check it out with the link below:
Interactive Social Studies Notebook for Kindergarten
Speaking of using community helper activities all year long, Earth Day is the perfect time to talk about trash collectors! This simple Boom Card activity asks students to sort between recycling, composting, and trash. It’s a good reminder of how we can assist our community helpers!
Earth Day Activity Boom Cards – Trash, Recycle, or Compost
Within the social studies notebook, you can also find an area that talks about school and community rules. These worksheets help your students see the broader impact they have in the community and how they can be good citizens.
Community helper activities are a great way to get young students engaged in learning about the world around them. These hands-on activities help kids understand what each community helper does and how they contribute to society.
If you’re looking for some fun and educational community helper activities for your kindergarten classroom, check out the interactive social studies notebook. This resource is jam-packed with engaging content that will make learning about community helpers fun for your students.
