Quick and Easy Kindness Day Activities for Kids that you can do today! - Red Ted Art

With World Kindness Day around the corner, as well as the theme of Thanksgiving running throughout the month of November, I thought, I would share some Simple Kindness Activities for Kids! Things feel a little challenging at the moment, so if we can stop to pause, and take a moment to be kind to someone, well, why not?! Today’s kindness activities are a combination of “just things you can do”, plus a handful lovely (quick) crafts to put a smile on someone’s face. I also share a super simple Kindness Advent Calendar template for you to fill and enjoy throughout December!

Activities and Ideas that spread kindness and joy

In a world where you can be anything, be kind!

by Clare Pooley

First up, I have a FREE Kindness Advent Calendar for you – a fun way to explore “being kind” every day. You can fill it in as you and complete it day by day, or you can plan out 25 days worth of activities to try and complete. The number 1, BUT: don’t worry if you do not complete every day. Be kind to yourself too!

If you are feeling inspired, by today’s post and want to celebrate World Kindness Day, why not grab this FREE Kindness Advent Calendar today. Simply add $0 at check out! Enjoy and spread that joy!

When is World Kindness Day?

World kindness day always falls on the 13th November – which is perfect timing for Thanksgiving in the U.S. as well as anti Bullying week! In a world where you can be anything, be kind!

Remember, being kind, is not about “giving lots of your time” or “giving lots of your money” (though of course both of those are lovely too!!!), but there are many ways you can be kind in small ways. Let’s explore these today!

Kindness Activities, that require no preparation

Now, Kindness experts say that there are 100s of ways to show kindness – you can for example show kindness to the environment (e.g. go litter picking or choose to walk rather than drive, or feed the birds), you can show kindness in the “obvious” way, such as volunteering with a charity organisation (but that requires a little more planning/ and time) and of course supporting local foodbanks etc is always an amazing kindness thing to do as well. BUT there are lots of small ways that you can make a difference in someone’s day – at no cost to you at all. They are simple and yet effective. So let’s focus on these today!

Smile at someone today (just don’t do it to manically and scare them!). A classic. But you know, smiling really is contagious. Being a little friendly can go a long way to making a difference in someone’s day. Whether it is someone walking on the street or someone at the supermarket check out!
Give someone a (genuine) compliment (e.g. I like your top, You are always so funny, I look forward to seeing you). They say for every “one negative thing said”, you need to hear “8-10 good things” to feel better again. Let’s normalise saying nice things!
Take the time to Thank Someone – thanking people is a very small habit to you can get into and it doesn’t cost a penny. You can reach out and thank someone from your past (and old teacher or colleague that always supported you), you can thank someone in your day to day (thank you for dinner, thank you for putting your shoes on etc) or you can take a moment to thank a small business by leaving them an online 5 star review. I promise you, these things get noticed.
Complain Nicely – the above just made me think.. there is also the reverse to this. Have a complaint? Fair enough, but can you complain/ resolve things politely and nicely? Remember, you are always dealing with a human, who may be having a bad day! This applies to both adults and kids. Shouting and angry words never (really) solved anything.
Help when you can – kids – help your parents – make your bed, set the table etc. Adults – help your neighbours, help at school, help a colleague at work.. for example, for me, we have a very active neighbourhood whats app group. It is REALLY easy for me to help my neighbours, when they ask to borrow something (e.g. a ladder, a tent or just an egg). This makes for a wonderful neighbourhood community. Are there similar opportunities in your area?
Call/ text/ email someone you have spoken to in a while. Even if it has been “years”, getting in touch with an old friend or relative will put a smile on their faces. Here is a podcast about reconnecting with old friends – start at 3min 18 in (this doesn’t mean you have to rekindle a friendship that you are not interested in.. just someone that you fell out of touch with for no reason..).

Be Kind To Yourself

And of course: remember that to Be Kind to Yourself today as well! You deserve kindness, just like everyone else. Here are some ideas for you:

Take time for yourself to a 5 minute meditation or some downtime to read a magazine or book or listen to some music, or something else you enjoy…
Take a moment to recognise that you too are awesome! Write down 3 great things about yourself.
If you find that hard (yes many people find it hard to write about themselves), try writing down 3 things your a grateful for.
Take a break and spend time in nature (even if it means, just looking at a plant pot!). What can you see, hear and smell?
Add extra activity into your week – walk, instead of drive, take the stairs instead of the lift. have a kitchen disco and dance etc.

Food for thought: Nice vs Kind?

What is the difference between being Nice vs being Kind? Isn’t it the same thing. You will be surprised to here that it isn’t! Generally, being nice is about “fitting in and keeping peace/ harmony”. It tends to be more superficial. Whilst being kind, is more about genuine empathy and concern about other’s well being. It is worth spending some time to think about this.. here are some examples for being Nice vs Kind… which do you think is better? Kindness Grows Here is a great chart that highlights key differences!

Lovely Kindness Day Ideas to Make

Ok.. enough of the kindness waffle (teehee), here are some cute things you can MAKE as part of your Kindness Day activities! These have all been picked, because they relatively quick and easy to make and don’t need lots of supplies to make.

Make an Origami Heart Bookmark

Kirigami Heart Bookmark – you can add a message on the back with a positive affirmation message! All you need to make these is a strip of paper! I have to include these paper hearts, simply because of YOU, you my readers.. I posted about these as a quick kindness activity in an email a couple of weeks back, and oh my, you guys LOVED them. I confess – I was a little taken aback, I didn’t expect the response. But the resonse lifted my spirits (at a time, I was having some issues) and so, they will forever more be a part of any Kindness activities!!!

Hide some Kindness Rocks

On the heart theme… why not make some Hug a friend Rocks and leave them for people to find! LOTS more Heart Rock Crafts for you to explore! You can leaves these rocks anywhere you wish.. but wouldn’t it be nice to pop one into someone’s pocket to find? Of course there are many Random Acts of Kindness designs out there. These are just to whet you appetite.

Oh.. and have you ever found a Random Act of Kindness item? Remember to pop into the facebook group of use the # hashtag to say you found it and that it made your day! I am in a number of these groups and people LOVE to see that their items have been found and that they put a smile on somone’s face!

Make a Card & Post It

Make someone a card and pop it in the post (or through the letter box). Now, I have a TON of Card Making Ideas here on Red Ted Art! Mainly because I love a “practical craft” and I love the accessibility of “just paper and card”… so you can really browse the full card making collection here! That said, I picked our our potato print cards – simple, because I personally think they are super cute and fun.. and hopefully it is something you can get to quickly and easily. So… check out the Potato Print Frog, the Potato Print Axolotl and the Potato Print Walrus (the best bit.. each potato print character is also made using your finger prints – a perfect keepsake too!).

Make a Kindness Cloud

Happy Hooligans made some cute kindness clouds – or Happiness Clouds. This is a lovely self care activity that students can have a go at. If they find it tricky to come up with “nice things about themselves” (it isn’t as easy as it sounds) – students can help each other come up with a comment what they are good about. Alternatively, these can be made as gratitude clouds too. Or a mixture of both. If they find the kindess clouds too challenging – try the happiness clouds instead – what do they enjoy doing? What makes them happy. They are bit more like a gratitude activity.

Self Love Sunflowers

On the theme of kindness to yourself and showing some self love, I adore these super cute sunflowers by Amy Lemons. Of course they can be adapted as an activity to do FOR a friend or a loved one (they would be lovely on a card for mother’s day too!).

Stick Note Challenge

Why not grab a set of sticky notes (or just pieces of paper) and write something nice on them for people to find? You can do this anonymously or personally. E.g. a parent can write a nice note for a lunch box… or a child can leave a nice note to a stranger in a library book… I know it sounds cheesy and I know it sounds simple, but you know, it is rather nice to receive this unexpected messages!

Simple Low Budget Kindness Gifts

If you are wanting to make a simple low budget kindness gifts in the classroom, then I love the simplicity of this pencils plus a message of kindness from Coffee and Carpool! So cute!

Heart Gifttags and Bookmarks

Similarly Me and My Inklings has these super cute watercolor heart gift tags that you can add to any small gift! Those most definitely add a message of kindness to the back of them. They would then make adorable bookmarks to keep – especially if you make the tied ribbon long enough for a book.

Make your own Kindness Advent Calendar

Coffee and Carpool have a 100 Kindness Activity that will help you fill the calendar right up!