🏘️ Explore Your Community
Your community is a giant system.
Roads, parks, schools, libraries, stores, buses, homes, water, food, and public spaces don't just appear.
Explore who makes your community work ↓
👷 Who Makes a Community Work?
It takes thousands of people.
Think beyond the jobs we usually call “community helpers.”
🚌 Bus drivers
🧹 Sanitation workers
📚 Librarians
🌳 Park workers
🧑🏫 Teachers
🔧 Mechanics
🌾 Farmers
🧑⚕️ Healthcare workers
🏗️ Construction workers
🧑🍼 Caregivers
💧 Utility workers
🏪 Local business owners
🎥 PBS LearningMedia — Community Helpers
https://www.pbslearningmedia.org/
🌱 TRY IT: Pick one person whose work you see today.
💭 THINK: What would happen if nobody did their job?
🏛️ How Does My City Work?
Who decides where parks, sidewalks and roads go?
Local governments help manage many of the systems people use every day.
🏛️ Ben's Guide to the U.S. Government
🔎 TRY IT: Find your city government's website.
Can you find:
🌳 Parks
🚌 Transportation
🗑️ Trash
💧 Water
🏗️ Planning
📚 Public meetings
💭 THINK: Who would you contact if something in your neighborhood needed fixing?
📚 Why Do We Have Libraries?
A library is something a community shares.
Libraries can provide much more than books.
📚 Books
💻 Computers
🎨 Activities
🧸 Children's programs
🛠️ Sometimes tools or equipment
🎟️ Sometimes museum passes
🤝 Community resources
📚 American Library Association — Find Your Library
https://www.ala.org/tools/librariestransform/libraries-transforming-communities
🌱 TRY IT: Visit your library and find something available for free that isn't a book.
💭 THINK: What else could communities share instead of everyone buying their own?
🚌 What If You Didn't Have a Car?
People still need to reach everyday places.
🏫 School
🍎 Food
🧑⚕️ Doctors
💼 Work
🌳 Parks
👨👩👧 Family
🚌 Federal Transit Administration — Students
🌱 TRY IT: Pick somewhere your family regularly visits.
Now imagine you couldn't use a car.
Could you:
🚶 Walk?
🚲 Bike?
🚌 Take transit?
♿ Get there using a wheelchair?
💭 THINK: What makes it easy—or difficult—to get around where you live?
🚶 Is Your Neighborhood Easy to Walk Around?
Become a Kid Urban Planner.
Take a walk with an adult and investigate.
Look for:
🚶 Sidewalks
🚦 Safe crossings
🌳 Shade
🪑 Places to sit
♿ Curb ramps
🚲 Bike routes
🚌 Bus stops
💧 Drinking water
🌱 Nature
🚶 Safe Routes Partnership
https://www.saferoutespartnership.org/
💭 THINK: Could a child safely get around here without being driven everywhere?
♿ Can Everyone Use This Place?
Good design helps more people participate.
Look at a playground, library, school, store, or park.
Could someone participate if they:
♿ Use a wheelchair?
🦯 Are blind?
🧏 Are Deaf?
🎧 Need less noise?
🗣️ Use AAC?
👶 Are very young?
👴 Have difficulty walking?
♿ Smithsonian Accessibility
🌱 TRY IT: Choose one place and find one change that could make it easier for more people to use.
🏠 Why Do Communities Need Different Kinds of Homes?
People need places to live at different ages, incomes, abilities, and stages of life.
Communities may include:
🏠 Houses
🏢 Apartments
🏘️ Townhomes
👵 Senior housing
♿ Accessible housing
🎓 Student housing
🤝 Supportive housing
🏠 HUD — Resources for Students & Kids
🌱 TRY IT: Look around your community.
How many different kinds of homes can you find?
💭 THINK: What happens when the people who work in a community can't afford to live anywhere nearby?
🍎 Where Can People Get Food?
Having food in a city doesn't mean everyone can easily reach it.
Communities get food through:
🏪 Grocery stores
🌾 Farmers markets
🌱 Community gardens
🥫 Food pantries
🧊 Community fridges
🍽️ Restaurants
🏫 Schools
🌾 USDA — Local Food Directories
https://www.ams.usda.gov/local-food-directories
🌱 TRY IT: Find the closest place to your home where someone could buy fresh food.
Could you reach it without a car?
🏪 Why Do Local Businesses Matter?
Where we spend money can affect where money goes next.
Local businesses may employ neighbors, purchase from other businesses, occupy community spaces, and contribute to local economic activity.
🛍️ TRY IT: Find a locally owned business near you.
Ask:
Who owns it?
What do they make or provide?
How long have they been here?
💭 THINK: What makes a business part of a community?
🌳 Who Takes Care of Our Parks?
Public spaces belong to communities—but they still need people to care for them.
Parks require:
🌳 Trees
🗑️ Maintenance
🚻 Facilities
🛝 Equipment
🚶 Trails
💧 Water
🦋 Habitat
💰 Funding
👷 Workers
🌳 National Park Service — Kids
https://www.nps.gov/kids/index.htm
🌱 TRY IT: Visit a local park.
Find one thing that's working well and one thing that could be better.
🗺️ Who Lived Here Before Me?
Every community has a story.
Neighborhoods change over time.
People move in and out. Buildings appear. Roads change. Businesses close. Parks are created. Natural environments change.
🏛️ Smithsonian Learning Lab
🪶 Native Land Digital
🌱 TRY IT: Ask an older person:
What was this community like when you were my age?
Then ask:
What's better now?
What's worse?
What's disappeared?
What do you miss?
🏗️ Design a Better Neighborhood
Now YOU are the community planner.
Draw a neighborhood.
You have to find space for:
🏠 Homes
🏫 School
🍎 Food
🌳 Parks
📚 Library
🏥 Healthcare
🏪 Businesses
🚌 Transportation
🚲 Bike routes
🚶 Sidewalks
🌱 Nature
🤝 Community spaces
But there's one rule:
Different kinds of people have to be able to use it.
Think about:
👧 Children
👴 Older adults
♿ People with disabilities
🚫🚗 People without cars
💰 Families with different incomes
💭 THINK: What did you put close together—and why?
🔎 The Community Detective Challenge
Take a walk with an adult.
Find:
🌳 Something your community shares.
🛠️ Something that needs fixing.
👷 Someone doing work that helps other people.
🌱 Something helping nature.
♿ Something designed for accessibility.
🏚️ Something that seems forgotten.
❤️ Something you love about where you live.
Then choose one question you want answered.
Who is responsible for it?
Is someone already working on it?
Who could you ask?
That's how community change often starts:
Notice → Ask → Learn → Connect
🏘️ Keep Exploring
Ben's Guide to the U.S. Government
Smithsonian Learning Lab
National Park Service — Kids
https://www.nps.gov/kids/index.htm
Safe Routes Partnership
https://www.saferoutespartnership.org/