Inside: Use these 19 kindness games resources to teach social emotional learning skills in fun, hands on ways that sneak in learning.
When my kids were little they were obsessed with Mary Poppins. And she taught us, “in every job that must be done, there is an element of fun. You find the fun, and snap!, The job’s a game…”
I took that advice to heart and tried to find ways to gameify most things in our lives that weren’t so fun; we turned on music when we cleaned, we threw dirty clothes into the hamper like basketballs, and we raced against the timer to pick up toys.
I also took this concept into the classroom with me: if we called something a game and made it anything close to a game, I had more buy-in from my students and they were more willing to participate.
They also learned without realizing they were learning because they were having fun.
Whenever we can make learning hands-on and a little silly, kids will be more engaged and therefore retain the information.
So when it comes to teaching kids social emotional learning skills like:
- how to be kind (and make it a habit),
- how to be a good friend,
- how to be more polite,
- how to be more friendly,
- how to be more grateful,
- how to be helpful,
- how to appreciate and accept our differences,
- and how to include others, we have created a ton of games to make it more tangible.
I’ve collected all my best SEL kindness games resources and put them in one spot for you to make it easier.
19 Kindness Games Resources Included in the Bundle:
- Kindness Word Searches (2 versions)
- Back to School Kind or Unkind Sort
- Ice Cream Kind or Unkind Sort
- Space Kind or Unkind Sort
- Find the Differences Game
- Includer Bingo Game
- Kind or Trash Game
- Kindness Charades
- Kindness Crossword
- Kindness Dice
- Kindness Simon Says
- Kindness Tic Tac Toe
- Left Right Center Kindness
- Manners Bingo Game
- Roll Some Kindness
- Simple, Normal Every Day Acts of Kindness Scavenger Hunt
- Skittles Game
- Thank you for the Fork Gratitude Game
- Bonus: Sibling Kindness Game
How to Use the Kindness Games Resources in this Bundle:
Purchase and then print and prep each of the activities when you’d like to use them. Most activities require no prep, while a few require cutting (and coloring if you print them in black and white).
Laminate any game pieces for durability and reuse as desired.
1. Kindness Word Searches (2 versions)- once you teach the kindness vocabulary words, kids can hunt for those words in one of the two word searches: an early elementary version and and older student version.
2. Back to School Kind or Unkind Sort– kids will sort the kids to the correct bus depending on whether the action is kind or unkind. This is perfect for small groups or in centers or as a game you can play as a whole group.
3. Ice Cream Kind or Unkind Sort– kids will sort the ice cream flavors to the right ice cream cone depending on whether or not the action is kind or unkind.
4. Space Kind or Unkind Sort– Kids will sort the planets and moon cards to the correct spaceship depending on the picture. It’s a good opportunity to discuss why each picture is kind or unkind.
5. Find the Differences Game– if we want to celebrate our differences, we have to help kids find their differences and similarities with those around them. This Find the Differences Game is a great ice breaker game for groups of kids or classrooms so they can find others they do have something in common with.
6. Kind or Trash Game– this game is perfect for groups of kids (I originally made it for my Girl Scout troop) to discern what is kind and what is trash. If the action is unkind, they’ll put it in a trash can. If the action is kind, they can talk about what kind of kindness it is, so they start to realize there are many different ways to be kind and many different ways to be unkind.
7. Kindness Charades- Sometimes we need a game that gets us up and moving. This gross motor game will get kids to be creative in their movement to showcase all the different ways to be kind as their friends guess the kind action.
8. Includer Bingo Game– this is perfect for teaching kids to become includers or welcomers. Kids will put different kids’ names down on their Bingo card they normally don’t play with. Each day they’ll invite one new kid to play with them or sit with them or partner with them so they practice involving and including others into their play.
9. Kindness Crossword– this crossword is a perfect game for older kids or for younger kids to do as a group to work on kindness and social emotional learning vocabulary and what each word really means.
10. Kindness Dice– this is a silly and fun way to get kids to practice being kind to others. Kids can make and then roll the dice to see who they’re going to be kind to and what they’re going to do for them.
11. Kindness Simon Says– A classic game with a kindness twist. The leader will say kind actions that the kids will act out, but once they say an unkind action, the kids will freeze and not do the action.
12. Kindness Tic Tac Toe– this is a fun game to encourage kids to be kind to others as they try to do three kind things in a row.
13. Left Right Center Kindness– instead of the fun dice game, this is a gross motor game where kids can run, hop, skip, or gallop to one side of the room or the yard or the gym depending on what they would do in each social situation.
14. Manners Bingo Game– This game will help kids practice which manner words to use when they bump into someone or when someone helps them or when they need to move past someone.
15. Roll Some Kindness– Get some dice and roll it to see who you are going to be kind to and what you are going to do for them.
16. Simple, Normal Every Day Acts of Kindness Scavenger Hunt– this scavenger hunt will give kids a list of ways they can be kind with simple, easy ways like smiling or holding the door open for someone behind them.
17. Skittles Game– this is a great ice breaker or get to know you better game and involves candy! Kids will get one Skittle and will then answer the question based on the color they receive to talk about friendship, including others, bullies, being a helper, being considerate, feeling grateful and kindness.
18. Thank you for the Fork Gratitude Game– this is the perfect game to play right before the December holidays or birthdays to help kids practice being grateful and polite when they open a present they weren’t expecting or don’t really love.
19. Bonus: Sibling Kindness Game- this is a great game for siblings to play together because in order to win, they have to work together and be kind to each other. All the prize ideas are only things they can do together that further builds a positive relationship between siblings.
Ready to get the Kindness Games Resources Bundle? Get it here.
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