Promote World Kindness All Year Round
World Kindness Day is celebrated globally and takes place on November 13th every year. The main focus of this day promoting kindness, compassion, and empathy among people worldwide. This annual started in 1998 by the World Kindness Movement, a coalition of kindness-focused organizations from various countries. World Kindness Day serves as a reminder of the importance of treating others with respect and understanding, regardless of their backgrounds or differences.
It is great that we celebrate a day of kindness, but we all know that kindness should be shared and spread all year round. Celebrate World Kindness every day. With everything going on in our world today, I believe it is even more crucial to teach ways to our children about kindness. Most of our children probably do things that bring warmth to our hearts and others, without even knowing it.
Ways Children Can Promote Kindness
- Acts of Friendship: Encourage kids to befriend classmates who may be feeling lonely or left out. Children can invite someone to play with them or sit with a new student at lunch.
- Compliments and Encouragement: Teach children the power of kind words. They can offer kind compliments to their peers, such as complimenting someone’s artwork. Also, encouraging words during challenging times, like a test or a sports event, can be incredibly uplifting.
- Helping Others: Kids can participate in acts of service. Some examples are helping an elderly neighbor with grocery shopping or cleaning up a local park. Such acts teach them the value of giving back to the community.
- Anti-Bullying Initiatives: Children can stand up against bullying by supporting victims and reporting any incidents they witness. Encourage them to be empathetic and inclusive, promoting a safe and caring environment at school.
- Kind Notes: Kids can write notes of kindness or create uplifting cards to share with friends, family, or even strangers. These notes can be left in unexpected places like a library book, a park bench, or a teacher’s desk.
- Sharing and Donating: Teach kids the importance of sharing their toys, books, or clothes with those in need. A great way is to participate in donation drives. Give away canned goods to a food bank or donate old toys to a charity.
- Environmental Stewardship: Encourage children to show kindness to the planet by participating in eco-friendly activities. Some favorites include picking up litter, recycling, or planting trees. Teaching children to care for the environment is a form of kindness to future generations.
- Listening and Empathizing: Kids can be taught to be good listeners. Listening to friends when they have worries or concerns. Sometimes, simply being there to lend an ear and offering emotional support is a profound act of kindness.
World Kindness Day Challenge Chart
I have created the 25 Days of Kindness chart. Make a challenge as a family to do all of these 25 things in 25 days or make it a challenge to do it every few months. The purpose of this chart is to start spreading love and kindness to others while teaching our growing children.
Looking for other ways to spread kindness? Take a look at this giant list of ways to volunteer in the Des Moines area or support a local community fridge in the area.
