This post contains referral links which means that if you purchase from one of my links, I will receive a small percentage of the sale.
Update 12/7/2020: I've received a lot of comments and feedback on this post and I wanted to address some of them. First of all, I live in a small rural town where homemade treats are the norm, but I understand that that's not the case for everyone. That's okay! Just substitute store bought treats and you're good to go. This list is meant to give you some ideas of various things you can do with your kids. Adapt it as needed to make it work for you, your kids, and your community. Not everything needs to include spending money or giving it away. One of the best random acts of kindness your kids can do is to be kind to others. Also, for those worried that people might think finding things in public places is "creepy" or accidental, make sure you're including a "random acts of kindness" card with them so the meaning is understood.
I thought it would be a good idea to leave a little note with each random act of kindness so I created this printable sheet of cards to cut up. I plan to print mine on card stock to make them a little more heavy duty. I'm also going to print extras to keep in my wallet for those times when I come across an opportunity to do a random act of kindness unexpectedly :) If you don't feel like making your own, you can buy some really cute ones here.
1. Leave a thank you note and treats in the mailbox for the mail carrier.
2. Bring cookies to the local assisted living or nursing home for the staff.
3. Buy lunch or coffee for the person behind you in line.
4. Have the kids make cards for family and friends. Hand deliver them (the cards, not the kids, haha) if possible.
5. Buy a $5 gift card at a store and hand it to someone coming in on your way out.
6. Leave a bottle of laundry soap or put quarters in the machines at the laundromat.
7. Tape a bag of quarters to a vending machine.
8. Leave a bottle of water and a snack or a magazine in the nursing rooms at the mall. The Babies R' Us in our area also has nursing rooms so we could do this there as well.
9. Leave a ziploc bag with a travel pack of wipes and a few diapers on a public changing table.
10. Give the kids each a few small toys and have them hand them out to other kids while shopping. I've bought a pack of sillybandz bracelets to do this with because both boys and girls love them.
11. Tuck a few dollars around the toy section at the dollar store or into various bins in the dollar section of Target.
12. Drop off a plate of cookies at the nurses' station at the hospital.
13. Make "Homeless Blessing Bags" up with the kids and hand them out to the homeless you see while out shopping.
14. Tape a bag of microwave popcorn to a Redbox machine.
15. Have the kids draw a picture for their bus driver and give it to him or her with a candy bar.
16. Leave sticky notes on a public bathroom mirror telling people to have a great day. You can even buy motivational sticky notes that are preprinted.
17. Leave sticky notes on public changing tables that read, "You're a great mom!"
18. Put a dollar bill in a library book when returning it.
19. If you're crafty, make a few hairbows and have your daughter hand them out to little girls when you're out shopping. There are lots of easy tutorials available for free online! Or, if you're not crafty, you could buy a pack of hairbows and hand those out instead.
20. On a hot day, hand out bottles of water to people out walking. Obviously, this is something we'd do during the summer :)
21. Tuck a few dollars or a Starbucks gift card into a book at the bookstore.
22. Write "You are beautiful" on a sticky note and leave it on a mirror in a public bathroom.
23. Leave a generous tip and a candy bar for your server after eating out.
24. Drop off a plate of cookies at the public library, police station, fire station, etc.
25. Give your child's teacher (school or sunday school) a small gift as a thank you for all the work he or she does.
26. Offer to take a shopping cart to the cart corral for someone else at the store.
27. Leave a coloring book and a small box of crayons at the doctor's office. You can get some really cute coloring book and crayon sets here.
28. Smile at a frazzled looking mom and tell her that she's doing a great job.
29. Buy a bag of fun-sized candy bars and have the kids hand them out at the mall.
30. If you have a small business like I do (Sunshine and Spoons Shop), hand out a few gift certificates to your shop while you're out shopping.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
30 random acts of kindness to do with your kids: http://bit.ly/2eK7JhL @sunshineNspoons #randomactsofkindness #raok
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I hope this has inspired you to get out there and do some random acts of kindness to brighten up someone's day. Have fun!
You might also enjoy:
What's this sappy sickening crap? !
ReplyDeleteIt's not sappy
Delete....you should try a little happiness
If that's sappy...then this motorcycle chick says sappy is cool...;)
DeleteTo Anonymous, These things may sound sappy to you because you are a miserable person. But this woman is trying to teach her kids that Christmas is more than exchanging gifts.
DeleteThis is really nice and more people should be this considerate. I will definitely try to do many of these.
ReplyDeleteLove it. Spreading love so much wisdom and love!
ReplyDeleteWonderful! What a great way to teach generosity and empathy! Our world is short on acts of kindness.
ReplyDeleteLove this! It's definitely inspired me to get busy doing these things!
ReplyDeleteWe've actually rented a Redbox movie and have seen money INSIDE the DVD case as well. :)
ReplyDeleteMy baby girl is only 6 weeks old but I am soooo looking forward to doing these kind of things in a couple of years :)
ReplyDeleteBut I also have an idea for leaving notes on a changing table: my husband is changing a lot of diapers too! And I am obviously very much supporting this ;) Let's all do our best and not only tell the moms they are doing great but include the dads as well ;)
Maybe there is a LIITLE BIT too much sugar in this list? Being kind shouldn't have anything to do with sugar.
ReplyDeleteHelping a mom with her grocery bags, helping an old person in a certain situation, or any other gesture that has nothig to do with giving people to eat sugar.
Maybe you were not aware, but America has a big problem with sugar.
Then leave them vegetables if you're not a fan of sugar.
DeleteBring cat food and/or dog food to donate on a visit to the SPCA
ReplyDeleteRemember smiles are free and do so much, have your children hold a door for someone or shovel snow, rake leaves or take out the trashcan for your busy or elderly neighbors.kindness is a gift to share practice every day.
ReplyDeleteLove the idea of this but wish there were more than a just a couple of things on the list that did not involve spending money. Helpfulness should not just be buying things for people.
ReplyDeleteHaters gonna hate,hate,hate but you my dear friend is what makes some of us believe, that there are still good people in the world.
ReplyDelete