100 acts of kindness that families can do together to make a difference! Includes a Kindness planner and journal too.
No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. - Aesop
These wise words may have been written 2000 years ago, but they are as true today as they were in Ancient Greece. Encouraging acts of kindness is one the most important things that we can do with our children, no matter their age.
All year, our Family Dinner Book Club has been focused on ways to help children make a difference. This month, we are focusing on bullying, and by extension, being kind to each other.
Can practicing acts of kindness actually help bullying? Studies say yes.
In fact, one study showed that:
When elementary students performed three acts of kindness per week they significantly increased their acceptance of peers compared to kids who did not perform three kind acts of kindness. (source)
That's why this month we are focusing on acts of kindness that families can do together. Teaching your kids about kindness is one thing, but actually performing acts of kindness together will help them to understand how kindness can ripple through their community.
Take the 100 Acts of Kindness Challenge
If three acts of kindness per week can make a difference, imagine what 100 acts of kindness can do! That's what I am challenging my family to do starting now, and you can too.
This is a fantastic way to bring your family together and encourage you to be kind every day.
To help you get started, I’ve put together a massive list of 100 acts of kindness that you can do as a family.
Let this list inspire you to begin your kindness journey as a family.
100 Acts of Kindness for Families
- Prepay for the person in front of you or behind you
- Offer to help someone you know pack or move
- Spend time undistracted and listening to someone talk
- Do a task for a family member that you know they hate doing
- Read a book to an elderly person
- Insert spare change into someone’s parking meter
- Send a random email to thank someone for their friendship
- Buy a patch of flowers and hand them out to people who pass by
- Do an activity or donate to a good cause
- Buy a movie ticket for the person standing behind you
- Donate old clothes that no longer fit you
- Participate in a local fundraiser
- Leave a kind note on someone’s car
- Donate your allowance to a charity of your choice
- Help someone who needs extra assistance in your neighborhood
- Hold the door open for people when you go out
- Compliment someone
- Show someone around town who is new to the city
- Find a way to make someone laugh
- Show new kids around school
- Wash the dishes without being told to
- Pay for a stranger’s library fees
- Donate your old blankets or towels to an animal shelter
- Plan a surprise party for someone that you know
- Pick up litter or trash in your community
- Help out by doing unpaid tasks at a ranch or farm in your area
- Buy from a local business
- Donate recycled cans for cash and donate your earnings
- Donate a book to your local library
- Write a kind message to your waiter at a restaurant
- Foster a pet at your local animal shelter
- Don’t complain about anything to anyone for an entire day
- Offer to walk your neighbor’s pet
- Say Thank You to a teacher
- Leave a note in a neighbors mailbox with kind words
- Send unused coloring books to sick kids
- Make a meal for a family in need
- Make care packages for your local cancer center
- Praise or rate a local business with a positive rating
- Offer to tutor someone in a subject they’re struggling in
- Give up your seat on the bus so someone else can sit down
- Pay for another student’s lunch
- Leave money in the vending machine for the next person
- Offer someone a lift when you’re out driving
- Buy lemonade from a stand instead of the grocery store
- When you come across trash, pick it up and dispose of it properly
- Send cards to sick children at a Children’s hospital
- Donate your hair to a company that makes wigs for kids/cancer patients
- Let someone cut in front of you in line
- Hide money somewhere for someone to find
- Send someone a handwritten card
- Leave a gas card at the pump for the next person to find
- Send a care package to a soldier overseas
- Let an establishment manager know when you’ve had excellent customer service
- Hold the door for someone
- Leave unused coupons for someone else to find at the grocery store
- Give someone a hug
- Find a way to make someone feel included
- Bring unwanted toys to a homeless shelter
- Give away unused items you’re not using on Freecycle or Craigslist
- Make breakfast in bed for someone in your home
- Offer to return shopping carts for people at the grocery store
- Do one of your siblings or family members chores for them without them knowing
- Pay the toll fee for the person behind you
- Bring a treat for your child’s class
- Write a list of things you love about someone and give it to them
- Buy school supplies for a teacher and leave it on their doorstep
- Take a special treat to the nurse’s station at your local hospital
- Bake someone a special treat
- Send a gift to your local librarian
- Offer to babysit a new mom without pay
- Send a thank you card to your local fire station
- Serve soup at the soup kitchen
- Offer to run an errand for a busy family member
- Do someone a favor just because
- Leave a box of goodies for your post office worker to find when they deliver your mail
- Help someone bring in or put groceries in their car
- Offer to help out in the kitchen
- Send a card to someone in a nursery home
- Write a positive comment on a blog or website
- Leave quarters for someone else to use at the laundromat
- When a cashier offers you to round up for a cause, do it!
- Clean your room without having to be asked to do it
- Hold a teddy bear drive and donate them to needy children
- Do a 5k for a cause
- Use Amazon Smile to donate to a charity
- Donate soda tabs to the Ronald McDonald House
- Write a letter to a stranger
- Do something kind for yourself
- Find a local give back night in your city and attend
- Talk to your grandparents and ask them about their life
- Volunteer at your local animal shelter
- Pass out stickers to kids who have to wait in line
- Shovel the driveway for an elderly neighbor
- Give a lottery ticket to a stranger
- Smile at people you pass on the street
- Create activity bags to donate to needy children
- Write a poem or short story for a friend
- Give someone a gift just because
- Send a special gift to school with your child for their bus driver
Need more random acts of kindness ideas? Click here for 100 MORE acts of kindness from Mama in the Now.
Complete Your Family Dinner Book Club Experience
Our Family Dinner Book Club is one of my favorite projects. Each month, my cohosts share a book list and menu to complement the month's theme. This month you can find a list of children's books about bullying from Growing Book by Book and a mouth watering themed menu from Sarah at Chef Sarah Elizabeth.
Be sure to share your Family Dinner Book club photos with us on Facebook! We love to see them.
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