“Kindness is the essence of greatness and the fundamental characteristic of the noblest men and women I have known. Kindness is a passport that opens doors and fashions friends. It softens hearts and molds relationships that can last lifetimes.”
― Joseph B. Wirthlin
When you think about your goals for your children or students, is being kind one of them? Do you want to raise or teach your child to be kind and gracious?
I attended a lecture on raising generous children last week. One of my favorite points made by the speaker was regarding how we model and encourage kindness and generosity in our homes and classrooms. She asked when our children come home from school or a playdate, do we ask, "Did you have fun?"
She recommended we tweak that and instead ask questions that reflect our expectations and goals for our children: "Were you helpful to your teacher/friend?" "Were you kind to your friends?" "Did you play well as a team?" "Did you respect the rules?"
It is remarkable how a little change like this can make a big difference in what our children think is important. It is nice to have fun, but it is more important to be kind. This is a great speech on kindness that I highly recommend reading.
This week I wanted to share three posts I found that go along perfectly with our 100 Acts of Kindness challenge.
- 14 Acts of Love via Make and Takes- This would be another great way to count down to Valentine's Day. Marie also shares some adorable free printables. She made a heart jar and stuck 14 acts of love to the back of each heart- one for each of the first 14 days of February!
- The Bookmark Project via My Creative Family- This is a sweet service project for the local library patrons. We will definitely be doing this one!
- Montessori Style Kindness via JDaniel4's Mom- This a great round up of ways to perform service for family members. I especially loved the way that JDaniel4's mom used montessori techniques to accomplish this week's challenge.
- Drinking Kindness- One of our Facebook readers shared this list that her 3 year old class brainstormed. They decided as their act of kindness for the week that they wanted to bring drinks to 5 teachers. So they brainstormed what each teacher would like and then Tara went out and got the drinks for the teachers. I'm sure the children felt so special that their teacher listened to their idea and helped them make it happen. What a sweet service!
Do you have anything to share? How are you encouraging your children and students to be kind and gracious?
If you've missed any of our kindness challenge posts so far, you can catch up by clicking the links below:
100 Acts of Kindness Project 2012 Intro post
Kindness Challenge #1: Saying Thank You
Whoopie Pie Love {via Red Ted Art}
Jar of Hearts {via The Outlaw Mom}
Rainbow Painting Surprise {via Glittering Muffins}
Winter Warm Up {via Kitchen Counter Chronicles}
Kindness Challenge #2: Show Love to Relatives {via Living Montessori Now)
Five Easy Ways to Show Love for a Working Parent {via Dinosaurs and Octopuses}
Our Kindness Jar {via Teach Preschool}
Everyday Kindness in Everyday Life {via No Time for Flashcards}
Planting Seeds of Kindness {via Sun Hats and Wellie Boots}
Stayed tuned for a guest post on Monday and Kindness Challenge #3 issued by one of my best friends, Liz from Made on Maple. She sent me a peak at what she is sharing and I can't wait till tomorrow to post it!
Happy Sunday!
You are inspiring so many people, including me (and my family) with this wonderful challenge. Thank you for continuing to inspire us to make kindness a priority, in new and cute ways.. I might add 🙂
I always ask "what did you learn?", but I'm totally going to change my questioning to the ones you suggested. I think it will most likely encourage better responses from Grace. Thank you for sharing!