Inside: Use this Give Me 5 Kindness Activity with kindness affirmations and a kindness ePoster to add to your sel curriculum and character education.
When I taught in Kindergarten, my main goal for the first month was to get them to pay attention.
So I would ask them to “Give Me 5.” It would help them remember to look with their eyes, listen with their ears, keep their mouths shut, their bodies still and their minds turned on.
When we were sitting down on the rug or getting to work at our desks and they need instructions, I would ask them to Give me 5 and it worked like a charm as a reminder of what they needed to do.
Visual cues are helpful to kids. Counting simple concepts and repeating simple phrases are helpful for remembering to do what is asked of them.
And if we’re wanting to teach sel curriculum and character education, we can use the same principles and visual cues by asking our kids to Give Us 5 kindness actions before they head out to recess or sit down to work in a group or head into an assembly.
This kindness activity for kids will help our students remember what they need to do to be the best, kindest version of themselves by using positive affirmations.
It’s a fun addition to any sel curriculum.
Why Teaching About Kindness is Important
Students who do not feel safe in our classrooms and in our school will never be able to learn.
If they are being teased or bullied or isolated on the playground, they won’t feel confident to raise their hand, participate in class, and take a chance at being wrong.
Students don’t know how to deal with tricky social situations on the playground. They don’t know how to stand up for themselves or stand up to bullies. They don’t know how to deal with “mean girls” or how to include someone on the playground.
We have to teach them.
Related: 10 Ways to Teach Kindness SEL Curriculum
We hang Kindness posters up in our classrooms and hallways and maybe even have Kindness Week. But it’s not enough. We have to intentionally teach students how to be kind. How to not be a bully. How to stand up to bullies. How to be a good friend.
Sure, we could argue that these skills should be taught at home. But for so many students, these skills aren’t being taught at home. So if we don’t teach them, our students are missing a key component to learning: how to be a good person.
So as teachers, we can change this. We have the power to not only teach our students the state standards. We can also teach them how to speak and act with kindness more often. It’ll make our classrooms kinder places to be.
And it’ll make sure all of our students feel welcomed, included and safe so they come to school ready to learn those state standards.
Related FREEBIE: Kindness Notes for Educators and School Staff (Get it here!)
Supplies Needed for the Kindness Activity:
- printed Give Me 5 on cardstock (purchase it here)
- scissors
- glue or gluestick
- skin color crayons
- pencil and thin black Sharpie
How to use the Give Me 5 Kindness Activity
1. Purchase and download the Give Me 5! kindness activity. It also comes with this Give Me 5! eposter you can print on 11 x 17 paper and hang up as another visual reminder.
2. You can use the version with the hand already printed out on the cardstock. Cut out all the pieces.
3. Color the hand using skin color crayons.
4. Cut apart the words and glue them onto each finger.
5. If you’re using the blank printable, have the kids trace their hands onto the cardstock and then color them with skin color crayons.
6. Cut out the pieces and glue one on each finger and the Give Me 5 and glue it to the palm of their hand.
7. If you have older students, after they trace their hand, they can write out the positive affirmations on each finger rather than cutting and gluing the premade ones.
8. Trace their words with a thin sharpie so the words stand out.
9. Then have them color their hands.
10. Continue to talk about kindness and how they can show they are a helper and how to be more compassionate and what they can do to speak and act with more kindness.
To continue the conversation about kindness and empathy and compassion, you can use these Walk in Someone Else’s Shoes Compassion Cards, this Kind or Trash Game, or these 60 Kindness Discussion Starters.
11. Then remind your students to Give you 5 as they walk into your classroom in the morning, or head out to recess, or join with another class.
You will truly have the kindest kids in the school if you consistently remind them to show just how kind they are.
Ready to add this to your Kindness Activity to your SEL Curriculum?
Purchase the Give Me 5! Kindness Activity and ePoster in our online store.
Purchase the Give Me 5! Kindness Activity and ePoster on Teachers Pay Teachers.
Rosa says
Love that activity.