The Top Ways Parent Volunteers Can Help With Your Class Right Now!

Are you hoping to get parent volunteers? Do you know how to find them and use them in your classroom? If you’re not sure how to make the most out of parent volunteers in your classroom, that’s okay. Today I am sharing the top ways that parent volunteers can help you in your classroom.

Why is parent involvement important?

Both students and teachers benefit from parent involvement in the classroom. Students with involved parents have improved outcomes: higher grades, better test scores, better attendance, and better behavior. Parent volunteers can decrease teacher workload and out-of-pocket. Plus, it’s easier to manage science, art, and hands-on projects in the early grades when you have help.

How can you increase parent involvement in the classroom?

Some schools and teachers are blessed to have an overabundance of parent volunteers, but that’s not always the case. Do you want to increase parent involvement in your classroom? If so, here are some tips.

• Ask – This one might seem obvious, but you’ve got to ask. Don’t wait for parents to come to the classroom, go ahead and call them.
• Build relationships – Actively work to build relationships with your students’ parents. Make an effort to communicate, listen to their concerns, and brag about their kids. Don’t just call when there is a problem.
• Be flexible – If parents are working, it can be hard to come to school during the day. Try to schedule classroom volunteers near the beginning or end of the day. Also, consider tasks parents can do from home.
• Look for community partners – If you can’t find parent volunteers, see if you can partner with local organizations. Your school guidance counselor is a great place to start.

What can parent volunteers do in the classroom?

Your school will have policies about volunteers. For example, parent volunteers probably need a background check and may be limited on what tasks they can do. Once you know your school’s policies, you can figure out how to use parent volunteers in your classroom. Here are some of the top ways to use parent volunteers at school.

👩‍👧‍👦 Work With Small Groups – While parents aren’t teachers, they can help students practice the skills teachers have taught. Parents can work with small groups practicing handwriting, spelling words, or math facts.

📚 Read Aloud Books – Having parents read aloud to your class lets kids see additional adults modeling reading. It also gives you a few minutes to prep an activity or grade. When I was teaching first grade, we had a literacy cafe on Fridays. Parent volunteers read a book, led a book-related craft, and brought in a snack.

♟️ Play Games – Parent volunteers can play educational board games with small groups of kids. They can help kids learn the rules and introduce the games. Game time can be used as a reward, to review academic skills, or to practice social skills.

🎉 Parties and Fun Friday Activities – Parent volunteers can plan class parties, grade-level reward days, and Fun Fridays. Often, parents are eager to donate supplies or time to make these events possible.

🖥️ Taking Groups To The Media Center – If your school allows volunteers to work with kids outside the classroom, they can take groups of kids to the media center to help younger students locate books and check them out.

🍕 Help In The Lunchroom – Do you have kids who struggle to open their milk and food at lunch? Probably. Parent volunteers can be extra hands for the first few weeks by teaching kids to open their lunches.

What can parent volunteers do other than working with kids?

Sometimes parents can’t come to school because of their work schedules or transportation issues. Other times, parents want to come to school, but don’t want to work directly with the kids. That doesn’t mean they don’t want to help. There are lots of ways parents can help from home or at school, even if they’re not working with kids directly.

🖨️ Run copies – If you set up a system for grade-level copying, you can save a ton of time by using parent volunteers to run copies.

✂️ Laminate Activities – Parents can be taught how to use the laminator. They can laminate and cut out activities, posters, etc.

🖍️ Trace or Draw Posters – If you have artistic volunteers, they can help with making classroom posters and bulletin board decor.

🍎 Change Out The Bulletin Boards – Do you need to change the student work in the hall or redo a bulletin board? Parent volunteers can easily take on these tasks.

✏️ Sharpen Pencils – Sharpening classroom pencils is another routine job that is easy for parent volunteers to do. Don’t forget about colored pencils and crayons.

🎨 Supervising Art or Science Projects – Parent volunteers can be useful when you’re taking on painting projects or messy science projects. They can help pass out supplies, keep students on task, and wipe up spills.

How can parents volunteer from home?

It’s not always possible for parents to come to school during the day, especially if they’re working or don’t have transportation. That doesn’t mean that those parents can’t volunteer though. Here are some ways that parents can volunteer from home. You’ll need to coordinate sending things home and getting them back, so remember to work ahead.

✂️ Cutting – Are you prepping bulletin board letters, games, or centers? If you need to cut out pieces, you can send them home for a parent to help with as long as you don’t need them back immediately.

📃 Folding and Stapling – If you use printable booklets, teach a parent volunteer how to put them together and ask them to help you create a class set.

✏️ Sharpening Pencils – Send your pencils home with a volunteer once a week to sharpen and return. Just make sure you have some at school still.

🛍️ Collecting Supplies – If you need to collect empty bottles, bottle caps, or some other supply, it’s easier if you have more than one person saving them. Ask parents to gather the supplies and send them in.

🥣 Making Salt Dough – Do you like to use crafting dough in your classroom? Maybe you want to do a special project like salt-dough islands with your class? Parent volunteers can prep the dough and send it in a day or two in advance.

Get FREE printable copy notes to use with parent volunteers!

Would you printable like the free printable copy notes? Simply enter your personal email below. (Many schools block outside emails with attachments.) I’ll send you the FREE copy notes ASAP!

Need more classroom organization ideas?

Check out these easy tips to quickly organize your classroom.