Inside: Use this friendship craft/kindness craft to help kids give compliments to their friends and spread kindness.
I was out at the store with my youngest daughter and we saw a gorgeous tall woman.
My daughter looked at her and then looked at me and whispered, “Mama, she’s so pretty.”
And my response is, “Yes she is. You should tell her.”
My daughter looked horrified at the thought of giving the compliment to the woman’s face was too much for her.
So we’ve been practicing. I remind her often that when she sees something she likes about someone else, she should tell them.
And she’s getting better.
My neighbor stopped by the other day and my youngest interrupted our conversation to tell my friend that she loved her sweater and how she did her hair.
My girlfriend was kind of shocked and then thanked her profusely for noticing her sweater because it was her favorite.
And I complimented my daughter on remembering to compliment someone else out loud when the compliment popped in her mind.
And these Compliment Suns are the perfect kindness craft because they help our kids practice the art of giving compliments to others.
Why it’s important to teach kids to give out compliments:
Compliments are powerful. Because our words are powerful.
No matter how confident we are, when someone is unkind, cruel, or teases us, the words sting.
But on the other side of the coin, positive words and compliments can lift us up, fill us up, and make us feel better about ourselves.
And compliments can lead to great things. Like new friendships. “I like your sparkly shoes” can lead to sitting together at recess, or “Nice hat” can lead two Dodger fans to find friendship on a Boston playground.
Compliments can also let people know you’re an ally. I saw a woman wearing an “Equality” shirt last night and a simple, “I love your shirt” compliment let her know I see her, we have similar values, and I value equality for all too.
But taking a second to notice something great about someone and then making an effort to let them know you noticed shows them you care about them.
And giving compliments shows we can get out of our own self-centered brains and think about others in a meaningful way.
But it takes practice sometimes to think of compliments for others and these compliments suns will help kids get in the habit of giving compliments.
How to Make Friendship Craft Compliment Suns:
Supplies needed to make the Compliment Suns:
- Yellow and orange cardstock
- glue
- scissors
- pencil
- Bowl- to make a perfect circle
1. Use the bowl to trace a perfect circle. Cut out the circle and cut strips of orange and yellow strips of paper about 1 inch thick.
2. Put glue around the edge of the sun and glue down the rays.
3. Once it dries, turn the sun over and write the kid’s name on the sun.
4. Then brainstorm compliments to describe the kid and write one word on each ray. We used a pencil because there were a few spelling mistakes.
If one child is making it for another, they’ll write down all the compliments.
If a group of children are making them for everyone, they can move around the room and add compliments one at a time to each sun.
5. We traced the words with sharpies so the words are visible once we edited for spelling mistakes.
6. If one child made the compliment sun for a friend, they can sign their name to it.
7. Last step is to exchange this friendship craft or give them to the person who you made them for and watch them light up as they read all the compliments about them.
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