Raising Kind Kids: 8 Great Activities
Above my younger daughter’s bed sits a framed quote that reads Be Brave. Brian and I are working hard to raise our girls with the confidence to use their voices; to stand up for what they believe in, and to question when something doesn’t make sense. That last one is the hardest, especially given the complexities of parenting in a COVID world. I’m starting to think that the quote above my daughter’s bed is just as much for us parents as it is for our kids.
Working with my co-author and daughter on our book, Adventures in Kindness.
I reflected on that quote a lot when my older daughter Sophia (now 10) and I were writing our book, Adventures in Kindness, last year. She was hearing news coverage and picking up on conversations in school that were confusing to her—conversations that led her to question how certain people in power can be so mean, but still get to be in charge. We decided to challenge those questions into action—52 actions to be exact—that fill the pages of the book we authored together, and published at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The process of challenging those big and complicated questions—which I definitely did not have good answers to—was both a learning opportunity for her as much as it was for me. And in the process, I know we both became a little braver too.
In celebration of World Kindness Day, I’ve offered some of our favorite adventures from the book below and would love if you go check out the book yourself. As we’re coming into the holiday season, I think you’ll find this book is just as much for kids as it is their caring adults, and it may give you the same foundation to foster bravery and kindness in your kids as I am working to do with mine.
Adventures 10: Send Someone a Happiness Kit
If you’ve noticed that a new kid in school is having trouble making friends or if a neighbor or family member has been feeling blue, send them a happiness kit. Start with an old shoebox, mug, or a spare basket. (Maybe you can rescue a cardboard box before it makes it to your recycling bin!) Next, fill it with a few things that you think might bring this person joy. Consider including a joke book, a mug with a smiley face on it, some fresh fruit, a kindness rock (see Adventure #46) or other items you think they’ll enjoy. Finish it off with a handwritten note of kindness to the person who is feeling blue. When it’s all ready, leave it in a place where you know your friend will find it.
What You May Need to Complete this Adventure:
· Craft supplies to decorate the box
· Gently-used books to pass along
· A shoe box or other small box
· Approximate time: one day to one week
· Cost: $ – $$
Sophia holding one of the Adventures in Kindness happiness boxes we made for our cousins.
Adventure 11: Start a Family Giving Jar
One thing we love about kindness is that it can often be done as a family. In the lead up to one or more of your family’s most celebrated holidays, consider how kindness could become a family tradition. First, find an empty jar—it can be a pickle jar, a peanut butter jar, a Mason jar, or any other jar you have lying around. That’s your Giving Jar.
For the entire month leading up to your family’s holiday, make it a tradition to place a few pennies or a few dollars—anything considered spare change—in the jar at the end of each day. Then, the week before your big holiday, select someone who’s going through a tough time financially and work as a family to give the jar to them in person or anonymously—or donate the collected funds to a nonprofit of your family’s choosing.
What You May Need to Complete this Adventure:
· An empty, clean jar
· Spare change
· Approximate time: 30 days to one year
· Cost: $ – $$$
Sophia with her Giving Jar!
A Note from Sophia
This is one of my favorite adventures in kindness because you work together as a family and you get to decide together where your giving jar money is needed most. My sister and I started by decorating the jar and then we made it the centerpiece of our kitchen table, so it was easy to think about it (and add to it) almost every day.
Adventure 15: Explore a World Calendar of Holidays with Your Friends or Family
You probably know most of the holidays that your family celebrates, but have you ever thought about the hundreds of other religious and cultural holidays that people celebrate around the world? Wouldn’t it be fun to learn more about them? For this adventure, work with an adult to print out a world calendar of holidays. Then, explore the list and pick one holiday per month that you’d like to know more about. As each holiday approaches, sit down with your family to learn more about the history and traditions of that holiday. Head to the library and find a book that will teach you more about the holiday or try finding someone in your school or neighborhood who celebrates the holiday and ask them more about it. A simple calendar of holidays can lead to great conversations about different types of cultures and their celebrations.
What You May Need to Complete this Adventure:
· Family or friend to join you in the conversation
· Access to the internet or a library
· Approximate time: 20 to 30 minutes per conversation
· Cost: none
We sit down as a family and map out which new holidays we want to learn about each year.
Adventure 18: Take On a Family Fitness Adventure
Living healthy isn’t just kind for your body, it can be a great activity for your family, too. This adventure involves lacing up your sneakers and going for a family hike. Before you stop reading, do not let the word “hike” scare you. This adventure doesn’t require big climbs, long distances, or super speed. It just requires getting out and moving. Start with a daily walk around your neighborhood or a weekend trek through whatever natural surroundings can be found in your community. Aim for one mile at first and track how you feel at the end of each hiking adventure. Can you keep it up for five days in a row? How about five weeks? Challenge yourself to see how long you can keep this adventure going!
What You May Need to Complete this Adventure:
· Family or friend to join you in the fitness adventure
· Sneakers
· Reusable water bottle
· Approximate time: 20 minutes per day
· Cost: none
Family hikes are among our favorite fitness adventures.
Adventure 26: Support Local Farmers
We love walking to the small farm stand near our home, which is usually set up between June and September. It’s fun to talk with the farmers about what they’re growing, to learn more about how that season’s weather is affecting their crops, and to know that we’re supporting that local farm. If you live in a place that offers farmers markets or farm stands, start this adventure off with a visit and replace one fruit or vegetable that you would have purchased from the grocery store with something that was grown by a local farmer. If you don’t have any farm stands or farms near you, explore the options to have local produce delivered to your home. Most communities provide co-op services to support local farmers and there are also plenty of subscription services that help distribute less-than-perfect (but still delicious) produce, such as those funny-shaped but still delicious apples or cucumbers that grocery stores won’t often sell, right to your door for a discounted cost. Some of our favorite services include:
· ImperfectFoods.com
· HungryHarvest.net
· MisfitsMarket.com
What You May Need to Complete this Adventure:
· Adult supervision
· Access to transportation (if farm or farmers market is not within walking distance)
· Approximate time: one to two hours
· Cost: $ – $$
Weekend explorations at farmers markets are such a good way to support local farmers and small businesses.
Adventure 30: Start a Little Free Library in Your Neighborhood
There’s nothing better than getting lost in a great book, except maybe sharing that book with a friend. Sharing the love of reading with someone else is one of our favorite adventures in kindness, and now there’s a movement underway to share that love even farther and wider with your community. For this adventure, we invite you to join the world’s largest book sharing movement by building a Little Free Library in front of your home or in your community so that everyone can share in a love of books. There are now more than 100,000 Little Free Libraries across the world, and if your community doesn’t yet have one, this would be a great adventure for you, your family or school to take on together.
Tip! Learn more, including how to build and stock your Little Free Library at LittleFreeLibrary.org .
What You May Need to Complete this Adventure:
· Access to books at home or at the library
· Approximate time: one week or less
· Cost: none – $
Reading is one of the kindest activities we can do for our minds.
Adventure 38: Interview an Older Neighbor About Their Life Experiences
Have you ever felt lonely? For many aging adults—who may not have friends or family living nearby, or who may no longer drive—this is a very common feeling, and it’s often referred to as social isolation. Some reports note that close to 50 percent of older adults experience social isolation, which can lead to a greater number of falls and broken bones, hospitalizations and many other health issues. But, by every account, a sense of community can reduce the feeling of social isolation.
To help, we invite you to talk with an older person and interview them. Choose a person at least 65 years old. Ask questions about your subject’s experiences as a child, as a young adult, and as an older adult. Record the interview using a journal or an audio recorder to make sure you capture everything that your subject shares, and then write or type up your interview. Give them a copy when you’re done—they probably would like it written down! Not only is this a great way to learn about people who have lived experiences different from your own, but it’s a kind gesture for someone who might live alone and may not have as many chances to socialize with family and friends. Here are some questions that might help to guide your interview:
· Where did you live as a child?
· Tell me about your family and your home.
· What was your neighborhood like?
· Did you have pets as a child? If so, what kind and what were their names?
· Did you have a nickname as a child? How did you get it?
· What was your favorite subject in school? Was homework hard or easy for you?
· Can you remember a historic event that happened when you were young? How did that event affect you?
· What was your first job?
· What are some of the biggest changes you’ve seen in our country in your lifetime?
· What age or age range has been your favorite thus far?
After the interview concludes, write a note to your subject, thanking them for their time. Then, reflect on the following questions:
· What was the interview like?
· What are the most important things you learned about your older friend or family member?
· What similar experiences have you had?
I love the bond my daughter has with her Nana.
What You May Need to Complete this Adventure:
· The participation of an older neighbor or family member
· A notebook and pen or an audio recorder
· A notecard and stamp for your thank you note
· Approximate time: one week or less
Adventure 40: Pay It Forward
In the movie Pay It Forward, a 7th grader named Trevor is given the following assignment by his social studies teacher: “Think of an idea to change our world— and put it into action!” Trevor comes up with the idea of paying it forward: you do a big favor for three different people and tell each of them not to pay you back, but to pay it forward to three other people who, in turn, each pay it forward to three more. Go ahead and pay it forward to three people who need help and tell them not to pay you back, but to make a commitment to help three other people when they can. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
· Pull up the garbage cans or recycling bins for a neighbor on trash day.
· Hold the elevator for a family with small children.
· Share your umbrella when it next rains with someone who’s walking without one.
· If you see someone taking pictures of their family, offer to take the picture so that this person can be alongside their family in the photo.
· Help an older neighbor by mowing their lawn, watering their flower bed, or getting their groceries out of the car and into their home.
We love paying it forward with kindness rocks.
What You May Need to Complete this Adventure:
· Just you and your kind self
· Approximate time: a few minutes each day
· Cost: none
If you like the Adventures we shared here, I hope you’ll check out the book to access all 52 Adventures. As Sophia says…one kind act makes a little bit of difference, but when we all act with kindness, we can make a world of good.
Happy World Kindness Day!
Carrie
If you’d like more adventures like these, check out the full Adventures in Kindness book for more!