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5 Activities That Teach Kindness To Children

Jul 28, 2021 | Wellness | 0 Comments | 198

In a world where the vilest of comments can be posted anonymously, where opinions can be strong and harsh, kindness becomes an essential. It’s something we want to inculcate in our kids.

Kindness can mean different things to different people, but making it a point to talk about it and actively try to practice it helps get closer to what it means to each of us. By making empathy and compassion a part of everyday vocabulary, kids will learn to be kind from a young age, and that is something which will stay with them their whole lives.

Children have the potential to be very unkind. By being open and talking to them about their actions, you will help them understand why one thing can be unkind, and ask them how it would make them feel.

Here are some every days ways in which you can get your kids to start thinking about other people:

1. Teach Empathy

As Atticus Finch tells his daughter in To Kill A Mockingbird, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view [… ] until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” This age-old hack goes a long way in building empathy in children. Start them young – this activity, that even your preschooler can do, builds essential social emotional skills.

2. Practice What You Preach

Children tend to mirror their parents, taking social cues from the behaviour they observe at home. So by being mindful and actively practising kindness – to strangers, to your family, and to yourself – you are setting an example and a roadmap for your children.

3. Stories of kindness

Books are a great way for certain concepts to enter your child’s radar in a non-direct way.  You can use reading to your child as an opportunity to instill socio-emotional skills in them. Books like The Nice Book, Be Kind, and The World Needs More Purple People .

4. Volunteer

Encouraging children to spend their time volunteering – whether it’s to help other children from disadvantaged backgrounds, or help rescue animals, or at an old-age home – is instrumental in developing a sensitivity to those in need. It puts them in different situations where their exposure to other people’s problems increases, and in this way, so does their understanding and empathy.

5. Kindness Jar

Positive reinforcement can work wonders with bringing about behaviour change. Enter the kindness jar! A simple kindness activity that is helpful for preschoolers and older, adding this to your lives helps with making an abstract concept like “kindness” more concrete. You can learn about making a kindness jar at kidsactivities.com.

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