Give back this holiday season with these volunteering opportunities near Philadelphia.

Between the hustle and bustle of decorating and shopping, it's nice to make time to give back during the holiday season. The Philly area has some wonderful volunteering opportunities to help folks in need in our local communities. Families can build strong memories and teach kids the joy of generosity by choosing one of these ways to give back.

For additional ideas to enjoy this time of year, browse our Guide to Holiday and Christmas Events in Philly.

Holiday volunteering opportunities are a great way to show your children that there’s more to the season than parties and getting gifts. This year, show them how good it feels to help someone in need. To help you find the right volunteering opportunities in Chicago for you and your family, we’ve rounded up several holiday (and year-round) volunteer opportunities in Chicago for families. Many of these groups even have events and opportunities for kids as young as 5. It’s never too early to show your kids the importance of helping our community. 

For more holiday events, happenings, and festive fun, check out the Mommy Poppins Guide to Holiday and Christmas Activities for Chicago Families.

Looking for volunteering opportunities in Houston this holiday season? Here are some volunteering opportunities for kids and families.

Create meaningful family holiday traditions and teach kids that the holidays are more than just presents through one of many volunteering opportunities in Houston. Non-profits need volunteers to make their programs a success. There are so many activities you can do to help your community, such as collecting and donating food, making cards, and preparing and delivering meals. Many Houston non-profits with volunteering opportunities allow children on-site to volunteer alongside their parents, or older teenagers to volunteer without an adult. 

Find more ideas to keep the holidays bright in our Guide to Holiday and Christmas Events for Houston Families.

While we can handle many of the day to day issues that come up for our kids, there are some times where a Google search doesn’t cut it and it’s time to turn to help from experts. From discussing a family cancer diagnosis to navigating hurtful stereotyping, eating issues in kids, and more, Connecticut Children's has created a new toolkit called Overcoming Challenges filled with advice on facing some of the difficult situations and conversations we encounter with our kids from pediatric psychologists, child life specialists, registered dieticians, and other pediatric experts.

It seems like children are facing an increasing number of tough challenges lately. Check out some of the ones tackled in the Overcoming Challenges toolkit and click through to get all the advice, including when and how to reach out to a specialist–there’s even a link to easily request a virtual or in-person appointment.

The NYBG Holiday Train Show returns for its 31st run in 2022, and this charming holiday installation always ranks high on our list of must-do holiday activities. The addition of the stunning, sprawling holiday light show NYBG Glow makes a seasonal visit to the New York Botanical Garden even sweeter.

Read on for our top tips for visiting the New York Botanical Garden Holiday Train Show with kids, plus all our favorite things to do at NYBG this season. You'll find more top holiday picks for kids in our NYC Kids Guide to Holiday and Christmas Events.

You might think of Hershey, Pennsylvania, with its towering, roller-coaster-filled Hersheypark as a summer-only destination, but family travel to the sweetest place on earth is always in season. Located in the south-central region of the state, Hershey, Pennsylvania, is an easy road-trip destination from the New York metro area and Philidelphia and has enough family-friendly entertainment and candy-fueled fun to leave your kids asking for a return trip. Here are our top things to do in Hershey, Pennsylvania with kids.

Find more fun family road trip destinations, like nearby Harrisburg, in our Guide to Day Trips and Weekend Getaways.

Every Black Friday, I shoo my kids into the basement, climb the ladder to the attic, and extract our 45-pound artificial Christmas tree. Come January 6, I cram the branches back into the straining box while the kids cry about Christmas being over, then push the box back up the ladder. And every year I wonder if I'm actually helping the environment as I thought by reusing my artificial Christmas tree—or if chopping down a living, breathing Christmas tree would actually be more earth-friendly.

I decided to investigate, and the answer may surprise you... Read on to find out which option is better for our planet, plus get tips on picking the perfect Christmas tree for your family.

For more ways to help save the planet this holiday season and all year long, check out our Earth Kids Guide, and sign up for our Earth Kids newsletter.

Volunteering during the holidays not only helps our community, but also teaches kids the joy of giving back. Sharing traditions with our children is what the holidays are about—baking pies, lighting candles, giving gifts, singing songs—and volunteering to help those in need is another wonderful family tradition. In fact, dishing up food or singing Christmas carols may be the best gift of all, setting up our kids for a life of sharing and empathy. 

These are some of our favorite local organizations that offer up ideas for volunteering with kids of all ages: delivering food, helping lonely grandparents, fostering animals, and spreading cheer for the holidays and beyond! Also, check our calendar for more upcoming charitable events. For more ideas to keep the holidays bright, check out our Christmas and Hanukkah Guide for Families.