Download the cards, pick a random one and each time you do a kind act listed on the board, mark it off. Students choose the appropriate words from the word bank at the bottom of their worksheet to insert to finish sentences about kindness and friendship. Permanent Marker Fun, upbeat, happy music Preparation: Draw smiley faces on the tennis balls that will be used. Against such things there is no law." The fruits of the Spirit are important for kids to learn and put into practice! Students paste the "fixed mindset" statements to the gray side of the brain, and then find the flipped statement to paste on the "growth mindset" side of the brain! Next, pass out the handouts and ask each student to write only their name at the top of the paper. Bring cookies to the custodian. Pick up trash. 20 School-Wide Kindness Initiatives. Teachers no longer need to trowel through countless pages on the internet to find fun kindness activities for students when there are so many ready-made resources available. As noted earlier, it is vital to start teaching kindness and empathy early on, but adults are also capable of increasing their capacity for empathy. display: block !important; It's another great way to help improve friendships and reduce bullying in your classroom. It is created for kids ages 2-6 years old and includes 12 monthly calendars and 48 weekly activity plans! They need to be taught in a developmentally appropriate way that includes both across-age and within-age variation. 22. Thanks for commenting! Playing the Smile Infection Game with a Larger Number of Kids (More than 5 Kids). We invite you to check out our blog article for a list of 30 activities for Elementary students to show their love and appreciation on National Random Acts of Kindness Day. The classes she has taken in psychology, teaching kids, parenting, art and marriage all contribute to her parenting style and philosophy. Please email us here. These worksheets are also included in our editable resource which allows teachers to customize the checklists to suit their grade. Use them to inspire students to come up with their own ideas of how they can make a difference or brainstorm a poster of your own with your grade. Its as simple as assigning each student a partneryou can let the students pick their own partners, you can choose a companion for them, or you can alternate between both methods. Proud to Be Primary. Then, challenge the kids to line up based on different factors. How did you feel when you made someone else laugh? age 4+ Learn tricks, make friends, and shop with a virtual puppy. Hugs help to connect people, reduce stress, lift mood, and may even be good for your heart and boost your immune system. 13 Kindness Activities for Kids. To make sure students get a chance to work on their relationship skills with a wide range of people and personalities, have them switch buddies regularly. Ask your kids to think of the people who make our community a better place. Very useful information. There are 36 Kind Cards that include examples of being kind and unkind. Like you couldnt help but smile or laugh too. Teachers can also assign a copy of the Google Slides resource to students so they can add their own kindness ideas. Rays of Sunshine Kindness Sun Cards is a kindness activity designed to help spread kindness, inspiration, gratitude and positive messages throughout the school. The Group Circle exercise helps students relate to one another, and it can encourage students to accept and share feelings that may be difficult to talk about. This activity combines reading and writing with social-emotional learning as a fun way to feed the heart as well as the brain. If your students tend to stick with their existing friend groups or cliques, assigning a buddy rather than letting them choose may be more effective. As you can see, each of these dialogues displays a reaction we may have when someone shares with us. They should note the duration for each pause in seconds, and the worksheet provides a space for this. }@media print { You can check if you fully understood the other by asking; When you are speaking, you can ask the other person if he or she wouldnt mind sharing what theyve heard you say. Make a point to go out on a hike or walk with the sole intention of cleaning up. Likewise, imagine how different classrooms, offices, organizations, and homes around the world might be if more adults stopped to consider how they might demonstrate more empathy and kindness in their regular interactions. There are 32 acts of kindness, you can choose from and you can practice one or more each day. Dont forget to download our three Emotional Intelligence Exercises for free. Kindness Rocks If you're looking for kindness projects for elementary students that will leave a permanent mark at your school, kindness rocks are a fun, low-prep favorite! You can brainstorm as a large group with open-ended questions like, What was something kind you saw someone do latelybig or small? Write down the students responses on a whiteboard or chalkboard and break them into two categories (big vs. small), but be sure to emphasize the importance of small acts of kindness in addition to grand gestures. Wherever you place the postbox, make sure to leave small slips of paper or sticky notes nearby. ), Development and Maintenance of Prosocial Behavior. The Interviewer listens. Visit someone lonely. Read more about that here. This activity helps reveal more personal details about each child and encourages active listening to one another. 10 fun ways to celebrate World Kindness Day. Crowley, B., & Saide, B. My goal is to help inspire and equip parents in a more intentional, creative and enjoyable parenting experience. .ms-editor-squiggler { That's why many schools are including social-emotional learning (SEL) as an essential component of their curriculum. 11. 7. (1) $4.00. Give a student an act of kindness and have them act it out for students to guess. 1. When used as a coloring activity, they are a useful addition to a calm down corner as a mindfulness activity to soothe anxious, restless, or angry students. According to psychologist and award-winning author Daniel Goleman, emotional intelligence (EQ) is a better predictor of success than academic intelligence (IQ). Hall, J. display:none !important; So, when you smile, you not only benefit yourself but you benefit others because they catch the smile, which impacts their bodies in a positive way. } Try these seven activities with your children or students, and they'll become kinder, more helpful young people. Its never too late to focus on building empathy and kindness in ourselves and in our communities. The good news is that kindness is a natural human response that likely wont need much prodding or encouragement. This game includes Kind Cards and Share Cards to get your students talking about kindness. Whatever terminology you choose, the activity is the samestudents will work with their partners and turn to their partners first when they need help. This interactive activity has 24 pieces for preschool or K students. Whether using a keyboard and mouse or their fingers on a touchscreen, kids are developing fine motor skills and spatial awareness while manipulating the pieces into place. It may be a small act of kindness on your part, but it's sure to leave a significant impact on the recipient. These days every small act of kindness matters. This can be as simple as a moment of praise or a sticker, or something more personal like a kindness card or a certificate of kindness. Teachers can elect to participate for a day or a whole week by selecting from kindness collection sheets where students complete 6, 9 or 12 good deeds. When the music stops this time, the one holding the ball is the person trying to make the other smile or laugh. It's a powerful, inclusive, and fun way to set expectations of friendship, inclusion, and caring during kindness days. Reader Interactions. . If youd like to continue the positivity, you can ask for volunteers to share one or two of the nice things on their handout. In this challenge, students will recognize when someone does something nice for them unexpectedly and surprise others with random acts of kindness themselves. Radke-Yarrow, M., & Zahn-Waxler, C. (1984). They can respond to just one sentence stem or several if they have more good things to say about the person. This is a very useful exercise that can encourage empathy in people of all ages. Life was organized according to a two-day . There will be an inner circle of kids facing the outer circle of kids. I love your posts always. The icing on the top consists of parenting tips, crafts, recipes, cakes and more. Instruct the students to be silent for a few minutes while they write something about the person whose handout they received. The speaker may say something else if not, the Interviewer should offer an open-ended question before pausing once more. Kindness Bingo or a Kindness Calendar is a great way to get students thinking about how they can show kindness to others in their class, school, home, or community. If the Speaker doesnt say anything further, they will then share a paraphrased version of what they said, and pause again. Playing the Smile Infection Game with a Smaller Number of Kids (2-4 Kids). The heart of my blog is the character development series for teaching kids. While it might feels obvious that smiling is a way to show kindness, it is an action that is teachable. Theres a task on each of them a child should cope with. Visiting a nursing home 3. Ask for volunteers who would like to share their nice thing with the class, or volunteers who have given their neighbors permission to share their nice things for them. Make sure each student received a different students handout. Or you can simply encourage them to complete as many kind acts as possible. How to teach kindness to kids. The most important thing you can do to encourage empathy in your students is to use empathy yourself, whether with your students, other teachers, or even with fictional characters. This is just one example of our gorgeous kindness quilt made by students. You can use a stuffed animal, a small beach ball, or any object that is easy to hold and pass around. Kindness can be taught at home or in the classroom, and preferably, its taught in both contexts. Talk openly about feelings. Encourage the students to complete whichever sentence stem calls to them, whether another student has completed it or not. Abundance. Classroom lessons on kindness can also have a big impact on how kind students tend to be. They'll be engaged for hours or even days! Finally, you can userewards and positive reinforcement to encourage more kindness in the classroom. By filling out your name and email address below. When you are kind, what does your face look like? Youll learn more about the science behind it below. It requires some preparation, but it can be extremely helpful in differentiating between empathy and other responses. When you saw someone else smiling and laughing, did it feel like it was contagious? Brainstorm Kindness Ideas as a Class Anytime you are introducing a new concept, try to provide a basic understanding of it at the beginning. Make a gift for a friend. I love this article, thanks for producing such great contents. Then, watch the people walking past and try to find someone displaying an extreme emotion like excitement or anger. For example, if you teach language arts, have the class define empathy and identify characters in literature that demonstrate empathy. Bring your neighbors' garbage cans up for them. If you can, remove the desks or tables from the classroom. It is about putting yourself in their position so you can feel the same way as them. Help your students practice turning negative thoughts to positive ones with this fun craft. The important thing is that each student should eventually get to hear or read a note of thanks or appreciation that someone has written about him or her. Friendship Rocks. Feel free to use ideas in your home and community. Kids love to play all sorts of games, like board games, . The list may include policemen and policewomen who keep us safe, the doctors and nurses who help us stay healthy, teachers who help us learn, postmen who deliver mail. 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