10 of The Best Kindness Activities for Kids
Raising caring kids is one of the most important things that we can do as parents. Not only is it nice to have compassionate children, but research has shown that kindness has many benefits for both individuals and society as a whole.
In this blog post, I’m sharing some of my favorite kindness activities. These kindness activities for kids are fun and easy to do, and they can help teach your child about the importance of being kind to others!
Do you want your child to be more caring and compassionate? If so, then you need to help them engage in kindness activities. These activities can help children learn the importance of being kind and helpful to others. There are many different ways to promote kindness in kids, and we will explore some of the best ones in this blog post.
10 Best Kindness Activities for Kids
Teaching children to be kind goes way beyond leading by example. When we start at a young age, being kind to others becomes a natural habit. Here are some great kindness activities that your kids will love!
1. Random Acts of Kindness
A fun way to make being kind something your kids think about every day is to declare a “Random Acts of Kindness Month” at the beginning of the month. Encourage everyone in your family to do random acts of kindness and then make it a friendly competition to see who can perform the most kindness deeds. At the end of the month, celebrate with a little party – maybe with ice cream sundaes or a movie night.
Another idea is to create a list of random acts of kindness your family can work on together as a team each day.
Here are a few fun examples:
- Ding dong ditch your neighbors a bouquet of flowers or a sweet treat
- Donate to an organization you love
- Donate your old clothes to a clothing drop box
- Put together a food box for a family in need
- Give a friend a copy of a favorite book
- Make your sibling’s bed without them seeing
- Go visit the elderly in a nursing home or a shut in from your church
- Pick up trash in your neighborhood
related: A Free Printable Random Acts of Kindness Calendar for Families
2. Kindness Jar
Create a kindness jar and let your child decorate the jar however she wants, if desired. When someone in your family does a kind act, you can write it down on a slip of paper along with the date, and drop it in the jar. Once a month or whenever the jar is full, pull out the acts of kindness and read them out loud.
3. Read Books
Reading wonderful books that share a message of kindness is a great way to teach your children to be more compassionate. You can find so many wonderful books on being kind at your local library or on Amazon.
Here are a few of my favorite kids books on being kind:
4. Volunteer
Volunteering in your church or community is one of the best and most memorable ways to teach your kids to be more kind and compassionate. Helping those who are less fortunate teaches children to be grateful, compassionate, and good stewards of the blessings in their lives.
I always loved working alongside my kids to help others in need and it was a great way to spend time as a family making a difference in our community.
Some ideas would be:
- working at the local animal shelter
- helping out a your local soup kitchen or food bank
- raking leaves or shoveling snow for an elderly neighbor
- putting together a few “essentials kits” to pass out to the homeless in your community
5. Kindness Notes
Receiving a kind note or letter in the mail is so much fun! In a day and age when people don’t mail personal letters anymore, how much more meaningful is it to receive a note of appreciation or thanks.
Choose a day to sit together and write notes to put in the mail as a family and take them to the post office.
6. Sidewalk Messages
If the weather is nice and the sun is shining, why not take your kids out to write kind affirmations on the sidewalk with chalk! You can have so much fun creating pretty, cheery designs and writing kind words together to encourage folks walking by.
7. Kindness Craft
Some kids love crafting and if this is your kid, encourage her to make something special to give someone else. You can help your child come up with an idea for what to make and let your child decide who she wants to give the gift to. Go shopping together to pick out all the supplies (or shop your craft closet) and get to crafting!
When the project is done, you can package the gift to ship or deliver it in person.
8. Set Up a Lemonade Stand
Let you children help you make a big batch of lemonade and set up a stand in your neighborhood. And then give the lemonade away for free! Your child will learn the value in working hard and giving back to others just to be nice, expecting nothing in return.
9. Bake Cookies
Baking cookies is always a fun activity for parents to do with their kids. Why not bake a batch of your favorite cookie recipe to give to family and friends. Kids love baking and they will feel a sense of pride and accomplishment when you pull the cookies they made themselves out of the oven. It’s well worth the extra effort of letting your kids help!
Then, let your children make a list of who should receive the cookies and then let them help box the cookies up or wrap them on a plate.
10. Kindness Game
Invite some of your child’s friends over to play a kindness game together. It’s easy!
Have the kids get in a circle with a ball. Throw the ball to someone and whoever catches the ball must say something nice about the person who threw them the ball. Make sure to give everyone a turn and don’t throw the ball to the same person twice.
Teaching your kids how to be kind and be deliberate in their acts of kindness will make a huge difference in their lives and the lives of those around them. It doesn’t have to be hard. You can incorporate acts of kindness and kindness lessons into your everyday lives.
I hope you’ll be inspired to try some of these activities with your family and friends. Kindness is a powerful tool, and I believe that by practicing it together, we can make the world a better place.
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