Inside: Use these Valentine’s Day Kindness Role Playing Cards with kids to practice how to be kind towards others during Valentine’s Day.
While there is no one way to be kind, there are many ways to be unkind.
And when kids are around family they haven’t seen in a while or are expected to sit still through a long, formal dinner with food they’re not used to eating, or don’t react to a gift in an expected way, they can quickly get labeled as rude.
So to prepare our kids for Valentine’s Day, we can intentionally teach them ways to be kind and polite during February and give them time to practice these new skills.
Role Playing gives children a safe space to practice new skills they’re learning that may otherwise feel overwhelming if they were not given time to practice.
So families and classrooms can use these Valentine’s Day Kindness Role Playing to intentionally practice different ways to be kind during February to set our kids up for more kindness “success” during Valentine’s Day.
Valentine’s Day Kindness Activities for Social Emotional Learning
We could teach kindness as an isolated moment, but that’s not the reality. The real power of kindness is we can be kind every day, every month in our simple normal everyday interactions with others.
So the best way to teach kindness is alongside other lessons and holidays: reading with kindness, writing with kindness, and Valentine’s Day with kindness.
And since kids already love Valentine’s Day, it’s a perfect conduit to teach other important skills: like Social Emotional Learning and kindness.
We can use the holiday and the hearts and Valentine’s Day cards and candy to our advantage to encourage more kindness.
And we can use Valentine’s Day and winter-themed kindness resources like these:
Winter kindness Notes to pass out to friends and neighbors
Winter Ultimate kindness Bundle
You can play our Valentine’s Day Kind or Unkind Sort Game and write about the ways we can be kind during Valentine’s Day and winter.
You can read Valentine’s Day Kindness Books like these:
Sit. Stay. Love. Life Lessons from a Doggie
Tiny T. Rex and the Impossible Hug
Valentine’s Day Kindness Emergent Reader
We can spread kindness in early February by making digital Valentine cards for kids in hospitals with chronic illnesses and serious conditions. Get the directions here to do that!
And we can intentionally practice being kind in different ways with these Valentine’s Day Kindness Role Playing Cards.
How to Use these Valentine’s Day Kindness Role Playing Cards
1. Print out the Valentine’s Day Kindness Role Playing Cards on cardstock and cut them apart (download them below).
2. Tell the kids you are going to practice acting out ways to be kind during Valentine’s Day (sharing, turn-taking, giving compliments, using manners).
3. Read a scenario on the card such as: “When you see someone’s cards.” The idea on the card is to say, “Your Valentine cards are so cool!” Brainstorm other things to say since there’s never just one way to be kind. (ie: I love your cards, Your cards are so shiny.)
4. Invite kids who are interested to practice acting it out. Hand them a pretend present and have them practice saying one of the brainstormed ways to react when they open a gift.
5. Practice with other scenarios/role playing cards. Have them practice sharing why someone is a good friend or act out how to share treats and let them practice being grateful for what they get. They can brainstorm ways they can be helpful on Valentine’s Day.
6. As kids get more confident, invite other students to act out the scenarios and take on the roll of passing out the pretend gifts as well as receiving the gifts or greeting people they see in public.
7. You can also brainstorm things to NOT say that would be unkind or unintentionally rude on Valentine’s Day (Ew, I hate this candy, I don’t like this card, These candies are disgusting, Why didn’t I get the Batman card?, Forgetting to say thank you if they’re able to, etc)
You can act out the unkind actions and have them try it again in a kind way.
Download the free Valentine’s Day Kindness Role Playing Cards here.
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