21 Kindness Activities For Kids In Preschool And Primary School

As a parent, we all wish to raise our kids as kind and humble individuals. But teaching them kindness through lectures and stories might not work that well, especially if your kid is naughty and not a good listener!

The best way to teach kids lessons of kindness is through practical examples and activities where they can engage themselves and gain first-hand experience.

So here I have brought 21 fun and mindful kindness activities that your kids can try out and become kinder and nicer human beings.

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1. Make A Compliment Jar

A compliment jar is the easiest way to begin your kid's journey to becoming more kind. Being appreciative of good things is a quality kids should learn.

You can ask them to make this for someone in particular or for the entire class. The more compliments they can write, the better it will be! So check out this tutorial on what things you'll require to make a compliment jar.

2. Compliment Clothespins

This is another way in which your kids can share their words of kindness with others. Ask your kids to make a bunch of them and clip them onto people's bags and clothes when they want to give compliments to someone.

Here Helidi has given some really good lines you can put on the paperclips, so do check that out!

3. Fix The Wrinkled Heart

Kids can often get very harsh with their words. The best way of making kids understand the importance of kindness is to show them how damaging rudeness can be with a practical example.

It is an activity that you can show your kid and ask them to share with their friends to grow more awareness.

The National Bullying Prevention Center also approves this idea, so do check it out!

4. Set Up A Kindness Calendar

If you want your child to practice an act of kindness quite often, this is a great way to do it. To make it even more exciting for them, you can reward them with something they like when they finish the task.

Try to add simple tasks like helping someone cross the road or thanking others so they can keep up with their habits.

Pragmatic parents have given 35 amazing ideas that you can add to make your own customized kindness calendar.

5. Spin The Wheel Of Kindness

If you think assigning kind tasks to your kids on a daily basis does not go with your parenting style, and you want to go easy on them, you can try this game.

You can play this game once in a while and reward them to keep them hooked on it. Your kids can make this wheel, play with their friends, and make their playtimes more productive.

Check out this easy tutorial to make a wheel of your own!

6. Kindness Stones

With this idea, you can teach your kids to be kind to strangers too! This idea will also give them a lesson that even the smallest gesture from their side can make another person's day.

Your kids can place these rocks anywhere they want and share their little light of positivity and kindness with others. They can even paint some rocks for themselves and use them as decor or paperweights so that they can remind themselves to be kind to others. Check out this tutorial to learn to make a kindness stone.

7. Fortune Telling Origami

We all are curious to know what the future holds for us, and the hope that something good might happen in the future is what keeps us going.

Your kid can make this fortune-telling game with different affirmative predictions. So, whenever their friends are having a bad day, this game can give them some hope.

Besides, origami is a super interesting art form; your kid will love making these! So check out the easy-peasy step-by-step tutorial to learn and make this origami fortune-telling game.

8. Kindness Journaling

Kids are a lot purer and more innocent than adults, which is why kindness comes really easy to them. If your kid is already very kind and you don't want them to lose this precious side of theirs, motivate them to make a kindness journal.

Your kid can note down all the kind things they did throughout the day. That way, when they grow up, they can look back at it and remind themselves how kind and generous they were and that they need to keep it up.

Besides noting what kind gestures they made for others, they should also pen down what kind behaviors others did towards them. They won't grow up thinking that this world is a mean place!

Click here for more tips and a free printable template for the kindness journal.

9. Brainstorming Sessions

The process of teaching your kids kindness should be a two-way street. It won't work if you keep lecturing your younger ones about the importance of kindness and how they can be kinder.

They should also be involved in the process, and brainstorming is a great way of doing that.

You can give them a hypothetical situation and ask what they feel about it. Or what they think should have been done.

This way, they will become more aware of their surroundings and implement their learnings in a better way.

Check out these 6 tips for teaching kids kindness through games and hypothetical situations.

10. Reflection Sessions

The biggest reason why kids grow up rebellious is that they feel that their parents don't understand them. There will be times when they'll misbehave, and you would point that out, but that will take away from their ability to judge their actions.

Becoming more mindful about decisions is the best way of making your little one kinder.

For that, you can have regular reflection sessions with them, where they can judge their actions on their own. This is so they don't feel like it's a blame game and take your words more seriously.

Check out these 10 ways in which you can encourage your kids and make them more comfortable for the reflection sessions.

11. Donating Old Clothes And Toys

Helping others who are less privileged than us is the best act of kindness that you can teach your child.

Now, since they are kids and donating money won't be a viable option for them, you can ask them to donate something that is of value to them. And what can be more valuable to a kid than toys?

If your kid is also not very willing to let go of their old clothes and toys, you can check this out, where Michelle talks about 9 ways of encouraging kids to do that!

12. Make Some Kind And Unkind Flowers

It's important for you to teach your kids not only about kind gestures but also to make them aware of what is unkind.

With this kind and unkind flower craft, you will be able to teach your little one how to differentiate them.

It can also be a fun parent-child bonding moment where you can explain to them why certain actions are kind or why some can be rude. But make sure to understand their perspective before you correct them.

Check out this tutorial to learn how you can make one of these games for your kid!

13. Hosting A Lemonade Stand For Charity

As adults, we often hesitate to give donations thinking that it is our hard-earned money. If you don't want your kid to have that kind of thinking, you can encourage them to do this activity.

They can put up a lemonade stand and raise funds that they can donate to some noble cause. It will teach them great values, and they will grow up as kinder and more generous individuals.

If you have no idea how to host a lemonade stand, you can check out these 25 tips to make things easier!

14. Making Cards For Residents Of Old Age Homes

Now empathy, love, and kindness are some traits that go hand in hand. If your kid is into art and craft and loves making cards for others, you can use that too to teach them kindness.

Teach them how there are some people in our society who can use some extra love and effort from our side and how these small gestures can make their day.

It is important to teach kids that kindness does not always mean donating food, clothes, or money. Rather it means having empathy and finding out what the other person is missing and how they can help with that.

Check out this tutorial by Little Read Window, where they teach you to make meaningful cards for people in old age homes and nursing homes.

15. Create A Kindness Chain

"Out of sight, out of mind" is a problem with many kids and adults. So if you want your kids to always be reminded to be kind or if you want them to remind them to be kind to themselves, this idea will do the charm.

Your kid can make a beautiful chain where each piece will have a message that will remind them to be kind.

Check out this super easy tutorial. If you don't want to give your kid staple pins, simply swap that with transparent tape, and it will do.

16. Set Up A Bird Feeder

Don't just teach your kids to be kind to people but also to animals. This idea will be perfect if your little one loves watching birds.

In this tutorial, Alison has shown how you can make bird feeders in two different ways. Both of them are super easy and can be made from scratch! So grab the supplies and start making your own bird feeders!

17. Write Sidewalk Messages

Just imagine that you are having a bad day, and you see some kind words scribbled by some kids on the sidewalk. Cute, right?

For some, it's just cute, but for others, it can make a big difference since most of us don't have someone who can share some kind words with us.

Besides, it is one of the easiest ways to teach your kid kindness, and they will definitely love doing it! So, check out this tutorial by Hallmark to know what you need to get started.

18. Fill Up A Gratitude Journal

Being grateful for what we have is the best way of teaching kids to become kinder and more humble. Besides, encouraging your kid to fill up a gratitude journal also helps to build resilience in them and improve their self-esteem.

Also, writing about things that they are grateful for can help them find happiness in the smaller things of life, which will help them become happier individuals.

So, check out these six tips to start a gratitude journal for children.

19. Spending Time With Animals

Children, by nature, are already very compassionate. So to retain this quality, you can encourage them to spend time with animals. Research shows that having good relations with animals helps develop positive emotions like compassion and empathy in kids.

But there's a certain way in which children should approach animals. If you don't have many stray animals near your household, you can take your kid to an animal shelter and encourage volunteer work such as feeding and grooming.

Check out these 10 amazing ways in which your kids can help an animal shelter.

20. Grow A Kindness Tree

This mindful craft is so fun and engaging that your kid will love doing it. We all love seeing our hard work pay off, and with this craft idea, your little one will notice their hard work blooming into a beautiful tree of kindness.

Watching their tree grow will encourage them to keep going. If you have more than one kid, you can assign a tree to each, and they all can have healthy competition.

Check out this tutorial to check out how to make your kindness tree within a few minutes!

21. Kindness Cards

These kindness cards are another great way of teaching kids that small efforts can make a big difference. You make these cards and give them to your kid when they are feeling low. Or you can ask them to pass these on to others when they find someone that can use a little positivity.

You can download the premade templates from kids activities or encourage them to come up with their own creative lines.

Wrapping Up!

Hope you liked the amazing ideas I handpicked for you and found at least a couple of them triable. These ideas are great for toddlers to adolescents, so no matter how old they are, you will definitely find one suitable option for them!

Don't forget to comment below the one you liked the most and would try!