25+ Simple Holiday Service Projects for Families and Individuals for 2023

Serving during the holidays is a family tradition that can increase the joy of our children and others. So here are over 25 ideas! This list also includes socially distanced Christmas charity ideas, in case you want them. These are simple volunteer opportunities that kids and families can do together. Look no further for holiday service projects 2023.

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First off, many of these ideas were contributed in the Lovin’ Life with Littles community during our 6-week Channeling Low-Stress Holidays Challenge 2020. These are holiday service ideas that families have actually done and worked well for them. Thank you to everyone who participated in the challenge and shared your ideas and experiences with us!

If you’d like some guidance in preparing for a peaceful holiday season, you can download the Peaceful Holidays Planner. The planner walks you through the topics of the Channeling Low-Stress Holidays Challenge. It also includes a list of these 25+ holiday service ideas. The planner will help you prepare for a calm, connected holiday season. Grab it FREE TODAY!

The Best Christmas Memories

As a child, I remember buying the gifts and wrapping them excitedly. But the best part was always dropping the bag of presents on the doorstep, ringing the doorbell, and running away.

Throughout my life, my parents made holiday service projects a priority for our family. I experienced firsthand the joy that comes from giving. Whether it was giving anonymous gifts, singing at a nursing home, volunteering at a shelter, or performing another holiday service, these are some of my very best Christmas memories.

Now, those are experiences I want to share with my own children, and I hope families everywhere choose to make Christmas service projects part of their tradition too.

The Joy of Giving

His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama wrote in The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living, “If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.”

Science backs up these wise words.

In one study, participants were given money and told to spend it on themselves. Their happiness levels increased. The other group was given the same amount of money and told to spend it on someone else. After shopping, their happiness levels increased about the same amount.

The next day, happiness levels were measured again. Those who had spent money on themselves had lost their happiness gains. However, those who spent money on others experienced lasting happiness.

The idea that giving creates happiness is not a new one by any standard. However, sometimes a little reminder helps us make holiday volunteer opportunities a priority. It’s not always easy to make family service projects happen. But when we remember how worth it the effort is, we are more willing to make the sacrifices, even if our kids aren’t entirely on board at all times.

How to Get Kids on Board with Family Holiday Service Projects

We might need to handle a grumpy attitude as we try to carol together or struggle to get kids excited about buying presents for someone else. But, these three quick tips can help us get our kids on board with family holiday service projects.

1. Play to your children’s strengths.

If kids are movers and doers, focus on ideas like, “How much can we get done for this other family?”

On the other hand, some children are sensitive to emotion. Invite these children to think about how another needy family is feeling and how we might help them feel better.

Encourage kids to think about how they can use their own talents and strengths (like musical ability) to serve others.

2. Develop compassion in general.

Just like other characteristics, compassion comes more naturally for some than others. We can work to help our kids develop compassion by helping them do three key things.

• See outside their own lives and into the experiences of others.
• Feel for the emotions of others.
• Act to relieve the hardships of others.

For more detail and actionable ideas and tips, request the free download of Raising Compassionate Children in a Conceited World.

3. Serve together.

When we experience the joy of serving, we’re more likely to be on board happily the next time the opportunity arises. So as parents, that means sometimes we just have to do it. Even if kids are arguing or grumbling, we just do it anyway.

And now, here are over 25 Christmas service projects that you can do together.

25+ Holiday Service Projects for Families and Individuals

1. Participate in a food drive.

2. Adopt-a-Grandparent.

3. Go to a food pantry and help sort or distribute food.

4. Make knitted hats and blankets for a local cancer hospital.

5. Deliver baskets of goodies and gift cards to local COVID nurses and doctors.

6. Keep candy canes in the car and hand them out to construction workers or other people you see working.

7. Pick out toys with your kids and pack shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child. You can also build shoeboxes online.

8. Donate Angel Tree gifts. (Choose an angel tag off a Christmas tree and shop for that child (gender, age, wish list, etc. typically provided). Organizers deliver Angel Tree gifts. Salvation Army, churches, and other local organizations organize similar programs. Include kids in the process of choosing a child and shopping. Have children pick something they would want to get for themselves and give it to another child. Salvation Army has partnered with Walmart, so you can purchase gifts online and have them delivered as well.)

9. Call elderly individuals in an assisted living facility each week and sing to them as a family.

10. Carol to friends and neighbors.

11. Do a Secret Santa for a family. (Involve kids in picking, buying, wrapping, and doorbell ditching.)

12. Provide the means for others to buy their children’s gifts.

13. Put together and mail holiday care packages for soldiers serving over seas.

14. Leave gifts anonymously on people’s doorsteps.

15. Provide Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner in a basket on someone’s doorstep.

16. Sing at the nursing home (virtually this year).

17. Perform a talent show at a nursing home (virtually this year).

18. Do the 12 Days of Christmas for a family. (Do a simple version by yourselves or coordinate with others to provide 12 days of gifts to a grieving family or family in need.)

19. Donate to a Salvation Army bell ringer.

20. Volunteer as a Salvation Army bell ringer.

21. Invite a homeless person to join your holiday meal.

22. Make and distribute homeless kits.

23. Collect coins for a Christmas Jars giveaway.

24. Donate to Toys for Tots. You can also donate to their virtual toy box.

25. Make scarves for soldiers through Operation Gratitude or look for other ideas with their Virtual Volunteerism initiative.

26. Write gratitude or Christmas letters to deployed troops, wounded soldiers and caregivers, first responders, or others through Operation Gratitude.

27. Anonymously leave a gift card for gas.

28. Do a virtual Christmas concert. Stream it on FB, IG, or a Zoom call to a nursing home.

The Need for Holiday Service Projects in 2023

Service and compassion are always important. However, the last several years have brought a collective hardship. As we plan our holiday season, there is much we can do to alleviate this hardship for others. We can begin by simply being there for others that are missing their loved ones or grieving in another way.

Additionally, we can find ways to act. I hope these family holiday service projects are helpful ideas for you and your family. Maybe you’ll pick something from this list, or maybe this list can spark another idea.

Either way, I encourage you to choose one holiday service project for your family. Schedule a time, and make it happen.

We can join together to create more joy for our children and communities this holiday season. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the birth of the one who gave His life for us than to follow in His footsteps and give a little of ourselves.

What family holiday service projects have you done before? How do you involve your kids in holiday service? What do you plan on doing this year? Please share your ideas in the comments!

I’m sharing this post at some of these Link Parties I Love! Thank you hosts!

Download this list of Holiday Service Projects and Other Helps for a Peaceful Holiday Season…

More Holiday Posts…

• 7 Tips to Avoid Holiday Stress
• 11 Ways to Teach Kids the Real Meaning of Christmas
• 20 Meaningful Gifts for Grandparents
• Best Gifts for Kids Ages 0-10 to Love All Year
• Simple Baby Jesus Craft
• Traditions for a Christ-Centered Christmas

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