News & Politics

Volunteer: Participate With Your Children

Child-friendly opportunities to inspire the spirit of service in your whole family

One of the most important—and challenging—tasks you face as a parent is to instill values in your child. Volunteering with your child is a great way to do that. But to be successful, you’ll want to pick service projects where your kids can make a difference and understand the issues at stake.

Below we’ve compiled practical, child-friendly options for introducing volunteerism in your household. We spoke to staff members at each organization about what your family can do to help and what your children can potentially learn from getting involved. Whether you want to inspire selflessness in your kids or simply want your family to do something constructive with its free time, we hope you can use this guide as a helpful place to start. If you’ve recently had a great family-volunteer experience, let us know in the comments—we’ll continue to update this list.

Unless otherwise noted, these opportunities require you to closely supervise your children, as provisions may not be made for them.

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