These acts of kindness for kids are perfect for groups looking to do something for the community! Whether you are a school, church, or scouts group, service projects are perfect for encouraging kids to make a difference!
My children’s school is implementing a new program this year called “Explorations”. During this 30-minute time block once each week, children can choose to explore an interest. Various teachers, staff, parents, and community members sign up to lead these explorations (sewing, dancing, drum line, are just a few of the options). I recently led a “Kindness Club” group at the school and we explored various ways of showing kindness in our community for six weeks.
Because I could not transport the twelve students in my group, I brought the acts of kindness ideas to them! Below you will find the six service projects that the kids completed. I also tried to find a relevant book to read with each of the activities to help promote empathy, but the older kids were not always super interested in my sweet picture books. 😏
We kicked off the kindness group with this Printable Kindness BINGO challenge! They took home their BINGO boards and were challenged to get a BINGO (or blackout) during the week!
Acts of Kindness for Kids
1. Make encouraging signs.
Hang positive messages in the hallways, teachers lounge, and other facilities at your school, church, or community building.
2. Write Thank You Notes to Veterans.
We wrote thank you notes to veterans and made ornaments to hand out at the Veterans Day assembly the school was putting on the following day. Another option is to write thank you notes for the Honor Flight program.
Read: Picture Books about Veterans
3. Decorate Placemats for the Nursing Home.
Individual placemats are perfect for making the elderly feel special! We couldn’t share pictures of the residents who sat at this table due to privacy reasons, but I assure you, their faces were absolutely beaming! We used these scalloped paper placemats and they were super easy to decorate using washable markers.
Read: Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge
Since Thanksgiving was just around the corner, we chose to create placemats to be used on Thanksgiving Day!
4. Make goody bags for the children’s hospital.
Making simple goody bags is one way to surely brighten the days of children in the hospital! Be sure to reach out to your local hospital for a list of approved items. Many hospitals have strict guidelines regarding what can be included in order to protect children from allergic reactions.
Here is what we included:
-Seasonal Coloring Books
-Small Packages of Crayons
-Party-favor sized containers of Play-Doh
-Stickers
-Small Craft Kits (think Oriental Trading)
Read: Franklin Goes to the Hospital
The kids also created “Get Well” cards to attach to the goody bags.
5. Decorate dog scarves for the Humane Society.
This activity was one of the kids’ favorite! I cut out 19″ squares of fabric to create bandanas. The kids used fabric markers to decorate the bandanas with “Adopt Me” and other sweet phrases/pictures.
Read: The Dog Who Found Christmas and Lucy Rescued
6. Assemble treat bags for the food bank.
We assembled these bags just a few days before our local Food Bank handed out holiday baskets to the community. My neighbor is in charge of our town’s food bank and she suggested this idea so that the families received a little something special with their holiday meal!
Read: Maddi’s Fridge and Hungry Planet (for slightly older children)
What other ideas do you have for Service Projects for Kids?
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