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Kindness is a character trait we value highly in our friends, family members, and co-workers, and yet our kids may not know how much we want them to be kind, considerate, contributing members of their community. For World Kindness Day (November 13 – the day this episode is being released), I’m doing a deep dive into simple ideas for raising kinder kids and creating a kinder world. Let’s focus on kindness, not just today but every day.
BIG IDEAS
- 80% of the youth surveyed agreed with the statement, “My parents are prouder if I get good grades in my classes then if I’m a caring community member in class and school.”
- We need to focus on raising kinder humans.
- Giving a compliment is a really simple way to spread kindness and also to show our kids a really, really important social skill.
- “Being considerate of others will take your children further in life than any college degree.”
- It is really important that we have a growth mindset about the character trait of kindness and realize that it is a trait that we can cultivate in ourselves and in our children.
- Something that we can control is ourselves and how we interact with and show kindness to other people.
LINKS & RESOURCES
Random Acts of Kindness – World Kindness Day
QUOTES
- “Take a few minutes to write uplifting, positive encouraging messages in a sticky note pad, then start leaving those messages around, whether it’s in your own house, at a neighbor’s house, on people’s mailboxes, on windshields. You can leave these uplifting positive messages around as a simple and fun act of kindness.”
- “Camp Secret #8 in my book, Happy Campers is, Make it Cool to be Kind. In the chapter, I talk about the importance of us focusing, in our families, in our schools, in our camps, everywhere, on creating a culture where kindness is embraced and encouraged.”
- “Set an alarm to go off three times, when the alarm sounds stop what you’re doing and call, text, or email someone simply to tell them how awesome they are.”
- “Compliment the first three people you talk to.”
- “Another act of Kindness that is something that kids can do is to write a handwritten note to their teacher.”
- “Just saying good morning to the people in your family or the people at work when you’re in a meeting is so important.”
- “A really good way to do a family activity of kindness is to pick up some trash. Even if you just spend 10 minutes picking up some trash around your neighborhood.”
- “Leave encouraging notes around.”
- “Spend 24 hours or dedicate 24 hours to spreading positivity on social media.”
- “Giving an extra generous tip to a service worker is another way to do an act of kindness.”
- “Send flowers to a friend and I would just expand this that you can also just send a note to a friend.”
- “Really anything that you send or give that just shows someone that you’re thinking about them is such an act of kindness and really can brighten their day and yours.”
- “Get your kids to focus a little bit more on kindnesses that they have seen others do by asking them to point out kind acts that they have witnessed or done themselves.”
- “It’s also a great idea to talk with your kids about how they feel after someone has done something kind for them or after they’ve done something kind for another person.”
- “How do you want to be remembered by your classmates and friends?”
ONE SIMPLE THING
From pages 189-190 in Happy Campers (Camp Secret #8: Make it Cool to be Kind):
RELATED POSTS & EPISODES
Ep. 46: #CampKindnessDay with Tom Rosenberg
Ep. 138: Unselfie with Dr. Michele Borba
Ep. 114: Precursors to Gratitude
How to Respond to Bad Behavior
Is Kindness the Secret to a Successful Life?
