Teachers and parents use many sayings each year to remind children of the importance of being kind. For instance, they often say, “Treat others how you want to be treated.” While children do not mean to leave someone out or say something hurtful, such things happen everywhere. So, teachers and parents work really hard to remind children of the importance of being kind. This often involves team-building activities and collaboration with all classmates. Additionally, teachers purposely select stories and activities to remind students how good it feels to be kind to everyone. For example, a kindness writing activity is a perfect way to reflect on kindness and make sure their actions match their thoughts. Since kindness feels so good to spread, children will love working on these fun activities!
The world can be a harsh place. There are so many judgments, stereotypes, and cliques. However, it does not have to be like this. Our students are the future leaders of the world. So, they can spark an incredible kindness movement! One of the best ways to spark this kind of passion project is to teach a variety of kindness activities. Whether using these activities with your students or your children, now is the perfect time to talk about being kind to all.
When discussing the importance of being kind, a kindness-writing activity provides excellent opportunities for reflection. For instance, the Kindness and Compassion Writing Prompts allow children to think critically about the role of kindness. There are 25 prompts to ensure students reflect on many aspects. This includes reflecting on times when they showed someone kindness and how it made them feel. Additionally, children can brainstorm ways to show kindness to others. This is a great way for children to practice making deliberate, intentional decisions that positively impact others. These prompts are excellent ways to combine an essential social-emotional learning topic with academics. Children can even share their prompts with classmates to build relationships!
Books are a powerful way to share a message with children. They allow listeners and readers to relate to characters and see how others handle challenging situations. Luckily, there are many excellent books for teachers and parents to pick from! For instance, the Be Kind by Pat Miller Read Aloud Activities provide incredible, thought-provoking activities. Children will develop random acts of kindness they can do at home and school, reflect on meaningful quotes, and create a mini book. There are no prep printables for brainstorming, letter writing, and creating kindness bookmarks.
One of the best parts of this unit is how it can work with any book about kindness!
One of the best ways for children to learn to show kindness is by developing ways to do so! It is so important to brainstorm and reflect with supportive peers. Thankfully, there are lots of activities to do this!
The ABCs of Kindness has 52 posters with kindness activities. Each letter of the alphabet has acts of kindness that students can do. So teachers and parents can use one letter each day to inspire children to show kindness to everyone.
Additionally, the Kindness Challenge is a great way to motivate students to show kindness to others! Each student will pick 4 acts of kindness in 3 different categories. These include kindness to self, kindness to others, and kindness to earth. Then, they will work on completing the challenges over 12 days. Since many of these activities need to be completed outside of school, this is a great way to incorporate parents and guardians in this powerful unit! Then, students can come together to discuss their experiences and how it felt to complete acts of kindness.
All of the activities above are terrific ways to help children show kindness. Even when others are unkind, these activities will show children how to overcome it. Whether using the kindness writing activity or the kindness challenge, students will feel so inspired! Ultimately, they will feel confident in any situation to show kindness to others and spread positivity!
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I am Kirsten Tulsian, an elementary educator with 18 years of experience as a teacher and counselor. My passion lies in empowering students to discover their inherent brilliance through the use of engaging, rigorous, and meaningful activities. I look forward to connecting with you!
