Even when children aren’t your own grandkids, seniors can discover the joy and benefits of spending time with kids. Seniors Guide writer Terri L. Jones has experienced these perks firsthand through volunteer work.
I love kids and always thought I’d have some one day. But it wasn’t meant to be.
When I was single, I considered having a child on my own, but I couldn’t afford it. More importantly, I didn’t think I could handle parenting alone. When I finally got married at 53 and could handle it financially and otherwise, it was too late. My husband and I settled on nurturing a string of very needy animals instead.
Now that I’m almost 65, I don’t feel the loss of the sons and daughters I never had; however, I do have a big hole in my heart from the grandchildren they might have given me. When I see my friends cuddling and cooing over their grandkids and my neighbors strolling their little ones through the neighborhood, I am absolutely green with envy! I’ve joked about sharing grandkids with my sister, who is about to have her second, and even wondered about fake-adopting a kid whose grandparents live far away (or have died), just to give them the attention and spoiling they deserve.
To get my kid fix, I’ve instead chosen to volunteer with children, and through this experience, I’ve realized that not only does spending time with kids give me joy, it also provides a whole lot of unexpected benefits.
5 benefits of spending time with kids
1. Provides socialization
In my late 40s, I participated in Big Brothers Big Sisters. Because I was single at the time and living alone, while also working from home, I could go for days without seeing anyone. I looked forward to my weekly visits with my Little Sister, a fifth grader who was shy with me at first but after we got to know one another was bubbly and vivacious. We played games, listened to music, danced, decorated cupcakes, laughed, and shared secrets. I always left our visits feeling fulfilled as well as energized!
2. Increases physical activity
When you spend time with children, you have to keep up with them – whether they’re doing cartwheels across the room or zooming around the playground. After Big Brothers Big Sisters, I babysat for 4- and 5-year-olds in a foster program once a month while their parents attended a meeting. As a volunteer in this program, I played a lot of games with the kids and read to them, but the majority of my time was spent chasing after these little ones. When the parents returned for their kids, I felt like I had just completed a workout, but it was a rewarding kind of exhaustion.
3. Maintains cognitive function
Children can also keep you on your toes intellectually. This year when I mentored a 7-year-old girl in the first grade, I had to learn several new games (sometimes teaching her – other times, she taught me!), organize craft projects, and find fun activities that surreptitiously got her to use and improve her reading skills. But most importantly, I had to keep up with my mentee’s steady stream of chatter, questions, and silliness, while trying to read between the lines to discover what she needed from me.
4. Gives purpose
In my early 50s, I decided to combine my love of kids with a part-time job, working for Make-A-Wish. There I was responsible for finding puppies, building playhouses, purchasing campers, planning trips, and more, all for children with life-threatening illnesses. Working with these children to grant their wishes gave me a sense of purpose like nothing I’d ever done before, especially when I was able to witness their excitement on wish day. In fact, in one study, older people who volunteered with youth were more satisfied with their lives than those who didn’t engage in this type of volunteer work.
Related: Engage with Grandkids in the Kitchen – or with any other kid!
5. Cultivates connection
When you consistently spend time with youth, you can form strong bonds, which are so critical for both seniors and the kids. And these bonds can last for years, sometimes into the child’s adulthood. In a letter to her mentors at the end of the school year, a mentor coordinator in a Delaware school system wrote, “Of course, we are so excited to see academic growth, but for me it is the personal connections that make my heart swell. I have seen children who really need a listening ear granted an outlet; I have seen children who are desperate for connection heard and valued.” The same thing holds true for the volunteer on the other end, because connection is important at all ages.
Developing relationships with young people can have myriad benefits as you age. If you can’t commit to a volunteer gig, you can look for intergenerational programming at libraries, senior centers, or parks and recreation departments in your area (find local programming at Generations United). Or you could simply reach out to a young person in your neighborhood and teach them something you do well, such as baking, building, or playing an instrument, or just take the time to listen to them. In whatever way you choose to connect, the rewards and benefits of spending time with kids will be more than worth it.
