Making Kindness a Daily Habit

Teach your Kids the Joy of Being Kind! (It's simple!)

When we exercise our kindness muscles, we develop the habit of looking for opportunities to do something nice for others. Opportunities to be kind are everywhere - from lending a hand, to helping others feel cared for, to just making someone smile. Once we start looking for them, opportunities pop up everywhere we look!
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Help your child start a kindness habit.

• Challenge your child to complete a random act of kindness every single day. 
• We've put together a list of simple kindness missions a child can complete, most of them without any adult help! Print out the list, and give it to your child. (The missions are examples of the types of missions kids complete when they become Secret Agents for the Society of Seasonal Secretkeepers!)
• Check in with your child every day or two, and ask them to share what they've done. (If they hedge, remember, they may have planted a surprise for YOU somewhere! So don't push too hard.)
• Ask how it felt to do something kind. How did the other person react? What ways did it make your child feel good?
• Remember, sometimes a random act of kindness can backfire, and leave us feeling a little blue. If that happens, help your child understand that it's okay, they should keep on completing their missions. It's also a good reminder to be a gracious receiver.
• Be sure to let your child know you're proud of what they've done!
• If your child can't think of anything kind acts to report, you might help them with a suggestion, or simply ask if they want help making a plan for doing something kind the next day. 
• Ask your child to think of more ideas to add to their list. You could point out a specific person, and think of what that person would appreciate the most from your child.
• Encourage your child to keep a log of their kind acts. They'll look back and feel very proud!
• Don't forget, this mission isn't just for your child. It's for you, too! Read through the list, maybe it will give you ideas. And be sure to do something nice for your child working to complete their missions. They'll learn from being on the receiving end of random acts of kindness!

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