Inside: Create Kindness New Year’s Resolutions for Kids with this Family Goal and Class Goals for the New Year printable that will help kids brainstorm real ways to act with kindness.
New Year’s Eve is synonymous with resolutions, a firm decision to do or not do something that can turn into a habit (or breaking a habit).
While many resolutions are forgotten by February, there are some that are worthy of becoming a real, lifelong change.
And while resolutions are often not kid-friendly, kids absolutely can understand setting a goal for themselves, making a plan to hit the goal, and then working hard to work towards the goal.
These Family Goals and Classroom Goals for the New Year to focus on kindness is a way to help kids create resolutions and a new habit worthy of our focus: kindness.
Instead of coming up with a resolution, you give the kids one they will all work towards: to speak and act with kindness more often with less reminders from adults.
But then they need a plan with real ideas to make kindness a reality and not just something we talk about.
To make it more concrete and easier to make kindness goals for the new year, you can use our Family Goals and Classroom Goals for the New Year Printables.
Even More New Year’s Eve and January Kindness and SEL Resources
We create these Kindness Resolutions to set the year up with more kindness.
We use this New Year’s Kindness Challenge printable to encourage more kindness with positive reinforcement.
We use this Birthday Wish for Martin to honor and celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
We can read all the ways Martin dreamt of kindness in this I Dream of Kindness Emergent Reader.
We spread kindness to others with these Winter Kindness Notes.
We read about all the ways we can be kind during the winter months with this Winter Kindness Emergent Reader.
We can spread kindness during winter with this Winter Kindness Bucket List.
And we use the Kindness Family Goals and Classroom Goals for the New Year.
How to Use the Kindness Family Goals and Classroom Goals for the New Year:
1. Download the family goal or classroom goal sheet, whichever you need (download it below).
2. Print out the goal sheet for your whole family or one for each student.
3. Then as a group, brainstorm ways kids can be kind to each group on the sheet with real examples kids can do every day.
If they’re struggling to come up with ideas on their own, you can use these ideas:
- offer to help
- offer to do a chore
- ask if someone wants to play with you
- ask what they want to play
- offer to let someone sit next to you
- offer to share the last cookie
- bring in a neighbor’s trash can
- smile and wave to people we pass in the hallway/street
- offer to share your supplies if they need it
- cheer someone on when they do something hard
- give a compliment to someone
- hold the door for someone
- help someone do something that feels hard for them
These are all simple, normal, everyday acts of kindness that can easily become habits if we give kids enough time to practice.
Here’s to more kindness each day of this new year and more kids with a new kindness habit.
Get the Class Goals for the New Year and Kindness here.
Get the Family Goals for the New Year and Kindness here.
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