World Kindness Day is November 13, and it’s the perfect time to inspire your child to do something nice for someone else. The benefits of kindness are as much for your kiddo as the recipient of their good deeds. Research shows that performing acts of kindness improves a child’s overall well-being and promotes good vibes among their peers. It also helps them build trust and more meaningful connections, boosts their mood and can even improve their health!
Keep in mind that kindness can’t be taught so much as it can be demonstrated, so the more you perform acts of kindness, the more your kiddo will likely pick up the same habits. Here’s a look at 50 fun and simple ways to celebrate World Kindness Day together, whether your child is a preschooler, a teen, or something in between.
- Make an extra dinner plate for an elderly neighbor and deliver it to their door.
- Leave positive reviews online for 3 local businesses.
- Read a story to a younger sibling.
- Rake a neighbor’s leaves or shovel the snow on their driveway.
- Walk a neighbor’s dog.
- Clean up the litter around your block or playground.
- Hold the door for someone else.
- Let someone go ahead of you in line.
- Leave a positive comment for a YouTuber, blogger, Etsy artist, or other person whose work you really enjoy.
- Write a thank you letter to a teacher.
- Take out the garbage and recycling.
- Set the table for dinner, and clean up after.
- Choose someone and list their 3 best qualities, then share the list with them.
- Write a thank you letter to a service member.
- Draw pictures and write notes of gratitude for local healthcare workers.
- Round up canned goods for the local homeless shelter.
- Donate gently used toys to a local daycare center.
- Leave a bottle of water and a snack out for the mail carrier.
- Use sidewalk chalk to share uplifting messages and pictures with your community.
- Choose a favorite charity and start a savings jar.
- Leave coins in a vending machine so the next person scores a free drink or snack.
- Corral the shopping carts strewn around the supermarket parking lot into the cart return.
- Make a few bagged lunches or bake a batch of cookies and deliver them to local healthcare workers.
- Make it a point to thank service workers for an entire day.
- Help a friend struggling with homework.
- Clean up your room or toys without being asked.
- Write body-positive messages like “You look amazing!” on slips of paper and put them in the pockets of clothes at the store where people will try them on.
- Ask someone how their day was, and really listen to the answer.
- Make someone else’s bed.
- Compliment five people in a single day.
- Pull a neighbor’s garbage or recycling can up their driveway.
- Make get-well cards for children in the hospital.
- Make it a point to thank an adult at school, like the custodian or lunch helper, for everything they do.
- Clean up someone else’s mess.
- Bring someone a drink or snack without being asked.
- Hide sweet or funny notes all around your house for your family to find.
- Tell a grandparent what you love most about them.
- Go outside and feed the birds.
- Wash someone’s car.
- Pull a neighbor’s weeds.
- Talk to someone new at school.
- Forgive someone.
- Make pretty bookmarks and leave them in library books.
- Help your grown-up or caregiver make a meal (or team up with your siblings to make it for them).
- Donate used books to the local library.
- Tell your parent to lie down, make sure they’re comfy, then leave them alone for 20 minutes.
- Make colorful cards or Post-It notes with happy messages and leave them around your town.
- Text a compliment to a friend.
- Donate old linens to an animal shelter.
- Smile. It’s contagious!
