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Helping Busy Parents Intentionally Raise Kind Kids//Bully-Proof Your Kids//Bullying Prevention

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Kindness Word Search to Help Teach SEL Vocabulary

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Inside: Use this kindness word search to help teach kindness vocabulary and as a supplement to your sel curriculum and character education. 


When I was a kid, I loved word searches and Hidden Picture Puzzles in Highlights Magazine. 

Maybe it was because it was a break for my brain from having to think too much and a stretch for the other part of my brain that wasn’t so great at puzzles and spatial reasoning.

But whenever I found what I was hunting for, I took great satisfaction in circling it and then crossing off the word from the word bank below. 

And word searches are a great add-on resource to teach any subject. So if we’re teaching our students to intentionally be kind through sel curriculum and character education, these kindness-themed word searches will help your students. 

As a stand-alone activity, they’re not enough to teach kindness, just like a word search on the solar system would never really teach our students about the solar system and its planets. 

However, these kindness word searches can be used as a fun extension activity to reinforce what we’re learning in a fun way that improves our spatial reasoning skills and reaches students who otherwise would have lost attention if we only relying on lectures and worksheets to teach our subject. 

Use this kindness word search as a fun way to teach sel curriculum and kindness vocabulary and character eduation 

Why Knowing Kindness Vocabulary is Important 

If we want our kids to be kind, we have to set very clear expectations so they know what we want from them. 

Educators: The Only Two Classroom Rules You’ll Need

Parents: The Only Two Family Rules You’ll Need 

When it comes to kindness, we can’t just say, “Be Kind.” Instead, we have to teach them what kindness is, and what it is not. 

Related: The Difference Between Nice and Kind and Why it Matters 

We also have to show them all the different ways to speak and act with kindness and what kindness encompasses: 

  • compassion
  • friendly
  • good friend
  • includer
  • upstander
  • thoughtful
  • helpful
  • gratitude
  • manners

And we have to use vocabulary strategies so students understand what the words truly mean. This is especially important since a clear understanding of the words and concepts will guide them to speak and act in a certain and very specific way. 

Our goal for our kids is to speak and act with kindness more often, with less reminders from us. That only happens when they have a very clear understanding of how to speak and how to act and how not to speak and how not to act. 

Fun Ways to Teach and Reinforce SEL Curriculum 

When we make social-emotional learning fun, our students and kids want to participate.

When they want to participate, it becomes more ingrained in their everyday knowledge and will become a habit. 

Tic Tac Toe Kindness 

Fidget Spinner Kindness 

Kind or Trash Game 

Includer Bingo 

Manners Bingo 

And we can use these Kindness Word Searches.

How to Use This Kindness Word Search 

1. Download and print the version you need since there’s an older student and younger student version (download them below).

Use this kindness word search as a fun way to teach sel curriculum and kindness vocabulary and character eduation

2. Offer the word search to students when they finish their work early, as an extension of a sel vocabulary lesson, for rainy day/indoor recess activities, for Fun Fridays, or as a boredom buster. 

Students can complete these independently, in small groups during centers, or even as a whole group as you’re teaching the vocabulary. 

Use this kindness word search as a fun way to teach sel curriculum and kindness vocabulary and character eduation

3. Review the words on the kindness word search so kids know what each word means and encourage students to find each word. 

Use this kindness word search as a fun way to teach sel curriculum and kindness vocabulary and character eduation

You can use our Kindness Vocabulary or Kindness Dictionary to help teach the nuances of these words so students really understand and attach meaning to these words. 

Because finding the words and circling them is fine. But unless our kids have a clear understanding of what the words mean, this is just a low-meaning activity that could do so much more to support our students’ social and emotional learning. 

Ready to get the Kindness Word Search?

Download the Kindness Word Searches here 

Use this kindness word search as a fun way to teach sel curriculum and kindness vocabulary and character eduation

 

Use this kindness word search as a fun way to teach sel curriculum and kindness vocabulary and character eduation


Use this kindness dice game to help kids speak and act with kindness more often. It's a fun, hands on kindness activity for kids.

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Comments

  1. techylist says

    September 25, 2022 at 10:22 pm

    This is a great way to teach children about the importance of kindness!

    Reply

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Welcome to Coffee and Carpool for busy parents on the go.

I’m Nicole and I am a recovering elementary school teacher, a mom to three super busy kids, and I mostly survive on strong coffee.

I share my best parenting tips and tricks for intentionally raising kind kids, creating a stronger family connection, and bullying prevention.

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