Inside: Use these kindness activities for kids to give kids ways they can speak and act with kindness more often in fun ways.
Kindness is a verb. It’s something we have to do.
So while we can read kindness books and talk about kindness (which is important), we ALSO have to give kids actual opportunities to intentionally be kind.
We have to set them up for success and give them simple, kid-friendly ways to be kind to others.
To make this easier, we’ve started the Raising Kind Kids Club where parents and educators have access to kindness and social emotional learning resources and strategies at their fingertips.
Or you can use a few of these kindness activities for kids to encourage more kindness.
Kindness Activities for Kids:
Thank an Essential Worker– Dring Covid, we learned to appreciate our most essential workers. But we can still thank those community helpers who make our society thrive and function. Use these to thank: delivery drivers, medical workers (nurses, doctors, paramedics), grocery workers, firefighters, educators, and trash and recycling collectors.
Compliment Someone with Compliment Cards– Everyone loves a compliment, but it can be hard for our kids to learn to give more compliments than they receive. Help teach them to give compliments with these compliment cards.
Classrooms can have a Compliment Box where you put in the compliments and once a week they’re read/given to the recipient.
Make a Kindness Promise– When we promise ourselves we’re going to do something, we are much more likely to make that promise happen. This kindness promise is a sweet way for kids to set the intention that they will work hard to speak and act with kindness often.
Role Play Kindness- Practice before you need to be kind with these kindness role playing cards. We also have them for almost every holiday: Christmas, Hanukkah, Easter, Thanksgiving, Halloween, and Valentine’s Day.
Thank your Teacher- Teachers are the unsung heroes of our community. There are a million way to thank educators and we don’t have to wait for May and Teacher Appreciation Week to do it. You can use this Coffee Thank You, these Educator Thank You Notes (for all school staff: librarians, custodians, secretaries, school nurses, administration, etc.) or this Thank a Teacher The Day After Halloween card.
Sibling Kindness Game– Focus on kindness between siblings with these Sibling Kindness Game where kids are strategically on the same team and have to treat their sibling with kindness in order to win. Even the prize for winning helps build a positive sibling relationship.
Say Kindness Affirmations- What we think controls how we feel and how feel controls how we speak and act. So if we change negative self-talk to positive self-talk, we can change the narrative and inner dialogue of kids who put themselves down or speak poorly of themselves or others.
Include Someone with Includer Bingo– Learning how to be an includer is a great way to be kind but kids often need reminders and gentle pushes in the right direction. Play this Includer Bingo with them so they remember to invite a new classmate or friend to join in, sit with them or partner up.
Meet a New Friend- Making new friends can feel daunting and overwhelming, especially for shy or introverted kids or kids who have been treated poorly in the past. These New Friends Role Playing Cards will give kids 6 ways to practice introducing themself to someone new so when the opportunity presents itself, they can meet a new friend.
Do a Daily Act of Kindness- Set kids up to do acts of kindness daily so kindness becomes a habit. Habits make us who we are, so if we want to raise kind kids, this is the most impactful way to do it.
You can use our 100 Acts of Kindness Challenge, our 365 Days of Kindness Calendar, or our Monthly Kindness Challenge to encourage them and remind them to do more kindness activities for kids!
You can also use one of our Kindness Countdown Paper Chains to spread kindness as you countdown to practically every holiday or school break. Each day they’re closer to the holiday/break and they’re doing one kind act a day.
Do a Random Act of Kindness: Hide a Dollar- Random Acts of Kindness are fun ways for kids to spread a little kindness to other kids. We love this hide a dollar rak because it only costs a dollar and kids love to treat other kids to special treats.
Do a Simple, Normal Everyday Act of Kindness- even more impactful than RAKs are simple, more boring, less fun ways of being kind like picking up things that dropped, helping a sibling tie their shoe, and holding the door for people behind you.
But these acts of kindness are essential everyday acts of kindness that really help others and make a big impact. Use our Kindness Scavenger Hunt to make it even more fun.
Make a Kindness Craft- Kids love making crafts so connect crafting with kindness and social emotional learning with one of these 14 kindness crafts kids are sure to love.
Make Friendship Cookies- If you have kids who love to bake, let them make these delicious friendship cookies with a group of friends. They taste even better when you give them away to a family who could use a pick me up or to a local fire station.
Play a Kindness Game– Gameify kindness with these fun, hands on and silly kindness games that sneak in learning about kindness. It’s a great way to teach about kindness without kids realize they’re learning about kindness.
Lift Up a Friend- Teaching kids to lift up others by cheering them on and cheering them up is a great way to spread kindness. You can use this Lift Someone Up Balloon cards for someone who needs a kind word.
Drop off a Kindness Note- Go spread some kindness cheer in your neighborhood by dropping off a sweet note on your next walk around the neighborhood. You can gift these kindness notes to neighbors you know could use a little extra cheer (senior citizens, families with a newborn, families who sent a kiddo off to college, sick kids, etc.)
You can choose from our Spring Kindness Notes, Fall Kindness Notes, Summer Kindness Notes, or our Winter Kindness Notes.
Volunteer- volunteer as a family or a class or a group with these kid-friendly ways to volunteer. We have an idea per month that kids are able to do and include ways to talk about why volunteering is so impactful and how to understand more about who they’re helping. Plus volunteering builds empahty and connection.
Write a Thank You Note- being grateful and showing gratitude for what you have and receive is a great way to be kind. But since writing thank you notes can be hard for young kids to learn, you can give them this Thank you Note “Recipe” so they write meaningful thank you notes.
Walk in Someone Else’s Shoes and Practice Empathy- Learning how to be empathetic towards others is a great way to show kindness but it can be hard for young children whose brains are still wired to be me-centered. Stretch them to think about how others might feel and build up their emotional intelligence as you teach empathy with our Walk in Someone Else’s Shoes Activity.
Which kindness activity for kids are you going to start with?
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