How to Spread Kindness with this Friendship Plate

Inside: Want a simple kindness gesture that’s easy to do with your kids? Spread cookies and kindness with this friendship plate that’s meant to be passed from friend to friend.

When we moved into our new home, neighbors all around brought us goodies when they came to introduce themselves.

Homemade banana bread. A store-bought pie. A bottle of wine.

All were appreciated and so thoughtful.

Because they took the time out of their busy schedules to come meet us and to make us feel welcome.

Some of those people became my closest friends (ps. It was the ones who brought me wine and store-bought pie).

And it started with a small treat and a conversation.

But it got me thinking…why do we only do this when someone new moves in? Or during the holidays?

We take gifts of cookies and rock hard fruitcake and tins of popcorn around Christmas.

We drop off Boo Buckets to kids in our neighborhood and I do Booze Buckets for my girlfriends at the same time.

But why not more often?

We don’t need a special occasion to take someone a small gift or a plate of treats.

So we’re starting a new tradition of spreading kindness with this Friendship Plate.

And it comes with cookies.

Why is spreading kindness and friendship so important?

We’ve moved three times in three years and each time I was the new mom on the playground, the new mom on the street.

So I know all too well, it’s hard to make adult friends.

Now that we’re more settled and I have found my mom tribe, I still look for simple and easy ways to reach out.

And since we’re on a mission to raise kinder kids and spread kindess whenever we can, we’re always on the hunt for fast and easy ways to act with kindness.

As a family, we do this 100 Acts of Kindness Challenge.

We have a Kindness Challenge for each month like this Summer Kindness Challenge and this Fall Kindness Challenge and this Winter Kindness Challenge.

And we help our kids surprise their friends with acts of kindness with these Friendship Flowers, Friendship Shrinky Dink Keychains and Kindness Pencil Toppers.

But we’ve also started a new tradition.

We take neighbors and friends a plate of cookies just because. No reason is needed other than to brighten someone’s day.

It’s a simple way of spreading kindness when we take a moment to say:

“I was thinking of you,”
“You’re special enough for me to bake with my kids,” or
“When I was grocery shopping I saw these packaged cookies and knew you would love them.”

We don’t need to bake. We don’t need to spend hours. Packaged treats are just as delicious (or in some cases, more delicious if you’re not a stellar baker).

If you are up for baking, try these Friendship Cookies that are easy to make and perfect to make with friends. And they happen to be absolutely delicious.

You can get the recipe for The Friendship Cookies here.

How to Make a Friendship Plate:

There are two ways you can make a friendship plate to take to a friend.

If you’re short on time, you can print out this poem on a notecard and deliver the cookies on a paper plate with the note. You can download a copy of this poem below.

Or, if you have a few minutes, and that’s literally all it takes, you can print out this poem on a Dollar Store plate with ceramic markers.

Supplies needed to make the friendship plate:

white Dollar Store plate
ceramic markers
copy of the poem (download it below)

Directions to make a Friendship Plate:

Start to copy the poem around the edge of the plate using the ceramic markers.

2. Let it dry.

3. Place cookies you baked or bought on the tray.

4. Deliver the friendship cookies to a friend or neighbor.

But the real magic of this Friendship Plate is asking your friends to pay it forward to one of their friends or neighbors.

It’s an update of the old school chain letters we used to get without needing to send 7 things to 7 friends in 7 days or we’ll never have another boyfriend again.

This is only a plate of cookies, when you have a second, to one friend, with no presure and no supersitions.

And we don’t need to wait for a holiday or a new neighbor to move.

We can do it just because.

And we’ll be spreading sweetness to the world around us. Literally and figuratively.

As long as it’s not a rock hard Christmas fruitcake.