Women's History Month is a perfect time to introduce your kids to great women throughout history- including some they may not naturally learn about in their history books—and to take actions that follow in their powerful footsteps.

At Adventures in Kindness, we love to celebrate Women's History Month. After all, we’re a women- and girl-led team of authors and illustrator, who care about inspiring courage, bravery, agency and empathy in one another and in our communities. We rely on the stories of women from our past and present day to show how sometimes big, and sometimes small, acts of kindness have in fact changed the world—and how our kids have it in their power to do the same. 

So, for the 31 days of March, we’ve got 31 opportunities to highlight contributions of women who have made and continue to make contributions to our society, through their activism, and kind acts.  This year, we turned to co-author Sophia (11) for her insights on the top 9 women and girls that inspire her.

Each kindness activist that we highlight below corresponds with a section of the book that Sophia and I wrote, called Adventures in Kindness. We wrote that book (and corresponding journal) together when she was in elementary school, and designed it with the help of our amazing illustrator (and Sophia’s auntie Nichole Wong Forti) as a resources and tool to help kids practice kindness and empathy every day.  If you’re looking for a resource to bring kindness into your classroom, or to make kindness a daily practice at home, we hope you’ll check it out over at www.AdventuresinKindness.com. Even better- every book sold on our site supports the nonprofits featured in our book, so it’s a kind act in itself!

We think you’ll find, in completing any of the below activities, or the other activities in the book, is a simple yet powerful way to remind kids (and their caring adults) how good it can feel to focus on kind acts each day.

 

Kindness Activist #1 Jane Goodall

A Kindness Activist for Animals

Jane Goodall (age 89) is an English primatologist and anthropologist, and the world's foremost expert on chimpanzees, Goodall is best known for her 60-year study of social and family interactions of wild chimpanzees since she first went to Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania in 1960, where she witnessed human-like behaviors among chimpanzees, In April 2002, she was named a UN Messenger of Peace. Goodall is an honorary member of the World Future Council.

Sophia and I love Jane Goodall because of her deep passion and commitment to study chimpanzees, even when everyone around her told her it wasn’t a suitable career choice for a young woman.  But she persevered, and as a result, her research has helped humans better understand chimpanzees, and one another—perhaps more than any other research in history.

A kindness activity you can do in the spirit of Jane Goodall:  Check out Adventure #4 in the book: Offer to Walk or Visit with the Pet of an Older Friend or Relative.  Spending time with animals will not only bring you joy, comfort and companionship, but will help our kids learn how to better care for each other, too.

 

Kindness Activist #2: Stella Bowles

A Kind Activist for Kids 

Stella Marguerite Bowles (age 18) is a Canadian environmentalist, author, and the youngest recipient of the Order of Nova Scotia. As an advocate for youth activism, Stella co-wrote a book for children titled My River: Cleaning up the LaHave River with Anne Laurel Carter, but it started with a desire to swim.  Stella wanted to swim in the LaHave River, but her mother said the water was contaminated by illegal pipes that flush unprocessed sewage directly into the river. One of Stella’s teachers, Dr. David Maxwell, helped her start testing bacteria levels in water samples from the river. Stella drew national attention when she reported the bacterial pollution levels that she measured. Stella’s project influenced the allocation of $15.7 million from federal, provincial, and municipal governments to remove the straight pipes by 2023.

Sophia introduced me to Stella, after having done her own research on this incredible climate activist. She thought it was so powerful to hear that Stella, at age 11 saw an issue in her town, and took action to address it.

A kindness activity you can do in the spirit of Stella Bowles: Check out Adventure #2, scrap single-use plastic.  It’s no secret how important clean water is to our survival, but millions of pounds of trash end up in our oceans each year. Invite your kind kid to do their part, and to act in the spirit of Stella Bowles, starting this month.

 

Kindness Activist #3 Allyson Felix

A Kind Activist for Family

Allyson Michelle Felix (age 37) is one of the world greatest track and field athletes, a ten-time U.S. national champion and a three-time world champion, but it is her advocacy off the track that has inspired us the most. Felix, along with Alysia Montaño and Kara Goucher, is credited with stirring public outcry over Nike's refusal to guarantee salary protections for its pregnant athletes, prompting the Nike to expand its maternal policy in 2019.  Two years after her departure from Nike, the athlete turned entrepreneur launched her own footwear company, Saysh, in June 2021.

We love Allyson’s story because it reminds us that you should never have to choose between your career and your family. Allyson Felix wanted to be an Olympian and a mom, but she needed her sponsors to support her in that effort.  Because of her advocacy, she paved the way for hundreds of other Olympians—and thousands of women athletes everywhere— to have access to better maternity and family leave policies.  

A kindness activity you can do in the spirit of Allyson Felix: Check out Adventure 13, Picture Your Ideal World, and What Stands in the Way of Achieving it. Sometimes the best way to start practicing kindness is to understand where the greatest injustices lie. Consider what unfair practices might exist in your community or town and think about what you could do about them.

 

Kindness Activist #4: Simone Biles

A kind activist for health

Simone Biles (age 24) is an American artistic gymnast. With a combined total of 32 Olympic and World Championship medals, Biles is tied as the most decorated gymnast of all time. Biles' seven Olympic medals also ties Shannon Miller for the most Olympic medals won by an American gymnast. But its her story that moves us most:

“My journey to the 2016 Olympics started on a daycare field trip. You might think that going from a girl in foster care to being an Olympic gold medalist in Rio de Janeiro is the most amazing part of my journey. It isn’t. It’s how I got there — or more accurately, who got me there — that is most miraculous.”

Simone Biles’ story is one of courage, big dreams and family. It’s also a story about prioritizing your personal health when the world around us can feel weighty and hard. Her commitment and focus on her physical health and mental wellness, and the importance of having a caring, supportive community, is a great reminder during these challenging days.

A kindness activity you can do in the spirit of Simone Biles: Check out Adventure 16: Run, Walk, Bike, or Scoot for a Cause. If you love being kind and you love to run or bike, this adventure’s for you.

Make your next run or bike ride more meaningful by signing up for a road race that raises awareness and funds for a cause that is important to you. Bonus: You may find some lifelong friends in the process.

 

Kindness Activist #5 Greta Thunburg

A Kindness Activist for our World

Greta Tintin Eleonora Ernman Thunberg (age 19) is a Swedish environmental activist who is known for challenging world leaders to take immediate action for climate change mitigation. Thunberg's activism began when she persuaded her parents to adopt lifestyle choices that reduced their own carbon footprint. What started as a one-person protest in the form of a weekly vigil outside her country’s parliament in 2018, has grown into #FridaysForFuture—an international movement supported by more than a million students in 160 countries—including in Sophia’s middle school!

There’s so much to live about Greta’s story, but for us, it’s how the power of her convictions have inspired millions of young people to join her movement. And how that Sophia gets to see it up close in her own school, it really has reinforced that one person can in fact make an enormous impact in the world.

A kindness activity you can do in the spirit of Greta Thunberg: Check out Adventure 24: Take our Home Sweet Home Pledge to Protect the Earth. Unfortunately, the earth is experiencing the effects of global warming faster than ever in history, which means it is all of our jobs to protect and care for Mother Earth. Join us at Adventures in Kindness to take the Home Sweet Home pledge and start doing at least one of these activities this week. Challenge yourself to keep up this adventure for the rest of this year!  Download the pledge in the resources section of our website.

 

Kindness Activist #6: Reshma Saujni

A Kind Activist for Mind

Reshma Saujani (age 47)  began her career as an attorney and activist. In 2010, she entered politics as the first Indian American woman to run for U.S. Congress. During the race, Reshma visited local schools and saw the gender gap in computing classes firsthand, which led her to start the nonprofit, Girls Who Code, which aims to increase the number of women in computer science and close the gender employment difference in that field.

Reshma is also the author of Brave, Not Perfect–a movement rooted in her experience, TedTalk, book, and podcast encouraging women to live their bravest, fullest lives.

I’ve long known about Girls Who Code, but hadn’t learned about its founder until Sophia introduced me to her.  There is so much power in Reshma’s experience and story, that offer great reminders to kids that possibilities to improve the world exist everywhere—and sometimes we’ll find them where we least expect.

A kindness activity you can do in the spirit of Reshma Saujani : Check out Adventure 35: Learn to Say Hello in a New Language. Just like Coding is an important language, so too is it important to learn languages as a way of connecting with people from different background and bridging divides. By expanding the languages you speak, rather than limiting yourself to one single language, you’ll be far more able to connect with those in your community who speak different languages. Learning a language is no fun if you can’t use it, so try out your new words on your friends and family.

 

Kindness Activist #7: Kamala Harris

A Kind Activist for the Community

Kamala Devi Harris (age 57) is an American politician and attorney who is the 49th and current vice president of the United States. She is the first female vice president and the highest-ranking female official in U.S. history, as well as the first African American and first Asian American vice president. 

Harris is the daughter of an Indian mother and Jamaican father and is the second Black woman and first South Asian American senator in history. She is the author of a memoir, "The Truths We Hold: An American Journey," and a children's book, "Superheroes Are Everywhere." Harris credits her late mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris, with empowering her to look for solutions.

"I was raised that, when you see a problem, you don't complain about it, you go and do something about it," Harris said in an interview.

A kindness activity you can do in the spirit of Vice President Harris: Check out Adventure 43: Email an elected official about a political topic. Do you know the names of the people in charge of your local government? If not, then let’s start this adventure by researching the names of your elected representatives. Then, consider researching the issues that each elected official is actively working on, and write a letter to at least one of them, with a question or feedback about how you think they’re doing. Elected officials need to hear from their community and the voices of kids are especially important to them. A handwritten note from a child can be more powerful than a hundred email messages from adults.

 

Kindness Activist #8: Malala Yousafzai Malik

A Kind Activist for Education

Malala Yousafzai Malik (age 25), often referred to as Malala, is a Pakistani activist for female education and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate. She is also the world's youngest Nobel Prize laureate, and second Pakistani to ever receive a Nobel Prize. She is known for human rights advocacy, especially the education of women and children in her native Swat Valley in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, northwest Pakistan, where the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan had at times banned girls from attending school. Her advocacy has grown into an international movement, and according to former Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, she has become the country's "most prominent citizen".

Malala’s story has long resonated with Sophia, and has been the basis of many dinnertime conversations in our house, especially when we realize that with the current rate of progress, we’re still 100 years away from education for all girls.  Malala’s story is about more than a love of education, but a love for one another, and that education should always be available to those who want it.

A kindness activity you can do in the spirit of Malala: Check out Adventure 47: Push Back Against Bullying.  As kindness activists, there are things we can do everyday to help create spaces that are free of hate, and more full of kindness. For this adventure, we ask you to check out a new online video series for kids that celebrates helps teach kids step to safely intervene when you see someone being bullied. The video series was developed by Woori Show + Hollaback and it’s a great resource to check out and share.  Watch out the five-part video.

 

Kindness Activist #9 Carolyn Blashek

A Kind Activist for the Troops

Carolyn Blashek (age 67) is the founder of Operation Gratitude. In late 2001, after witnessing the September 11 terrorist attacks on America, Carolyn started volunteering at the military lounge at Los Angeles airport. While tending to the care of a distraught Active Duty service member about to deploy, her deeply personal desire to say "Thank You" has spread like wildfire across California, the country and now halfway around the world.

Right then, and ever since, Blashek realized that when bullets are flying, troops must believe that someone at home cares about them as an individual. That’s when Operation Gratitude was born. While this grassroots movement started in Blashek’s living room, it now encompasses Americans all over the country donating items and writing letters to those who serve.

We first started supporting Operation Gratitude almost 15 years ago, and we featured their work in our book.  Carolyn’s simple, yet profound commitment to do more than say “thank you” has inspired our family to think of the many ways we can support our troops and first responders, too.

A kindness activity you can do in the spirit of Carolyn: Check out Adventure 53: Write a Thank You Letter to Overseas Troops or First Responders.  Operation Gratitude has now delivered more than 2.5 million care packages and gratitude boxes to active members of the military, veterans, first responders, and military families since its founding. Make this the week, that you add your letter to the mix.

 

We hope you loved this blog, and learning about the women who have inspired kind acts in us. If you’d like more adventures like these, check out the full Adventures in Kindness book for more!