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These simple ways to show kindness for kids are easy to implement into your day. Use the free checklist as a scavenger hunt to look for chances to show kindness all day!

I’d had enough.  

It was another one of those days where you wake to the sound of bickering, and it doesn’t stop until everyone is asleep.  

With a school break on the horizon, I knew I had to do something to change the mood of the house before all of us went crazy.

We needed more kindness in our home.

There are plenty of ways to show kindness for kids.  But I wanted to make it into a game rather than something resembling a punishment.  

After all, forced acts of kindness kind of defeats the purpose.

Teaching Ways to Show Kindness for Kids

When the kids are bickering and name calling, it doesn’t work to just tell them to stop calling names.  

You can punish it out of them, I suppose.  But unless you replace it with something more positive, good luck keeping that negative vibe out of the house.

Instead, try these methods for teaching random acts of kindness.

Draw Names

Give each child the name of another child.  Ask them to secretly do kind things for their person.  

The secret part clearly works better if you have a medium sized family, 😉 but it’s perfectly fine to do this with just 2 kids, too.  

You can even get in on the action to add a little mystery.

This works well because it’s fun to be sneaky.  

Plus there’s no need to feel embarrassed about doing kind acts when no one sees you doing them.  (A great bonus for the introverted child.)

It’s also rather open ended.  Which could be a good thing for a creative child.  

But might not work as well with an unmotivated child who would consider their job done after a half-hearted attempt at throwing a blanket on a bed.

Give those children 2 or 3 options to choose from so they don’t feel so overwhelmed.

Read A Book

There are tons of great books out there that encourage kids to be more kind.

Bonus: you get snuggle and reading time with them, too!

Take a Trip

Another fun idea is to jump in the car with some treats.  Have the kids jump out and leave treats for each neighbor.  

This can cost as much as you want.  Or choose the #yearofno option and bake cookies using ingredients you have on hand.

While this doesn’t teach them to be kind to one another, the joy of giving can be contagious.  With a bit of encouragement, you can keep the spirit going in your home.

Scavenger Hunt: Look For These 9 Things

My kids love a good scavenger hunt.  Who doesn’t enjoy crossing things off a list?

I created this form and printed it off.  I laminated it to save myself from printing it off several times, but you can always skip that step.

I asked each child to do as many acts of kindness as they could fit into a day.  More importantly, I used the scavenger hunt list, too.  

Kindness has to start at the top, and they love it when we get in on the action!

Now this isn’t a traditional scavenger hunt where you look for the items on the list.  Instead, we’re looking for opportunities to create the items on this list throughout the day.

Download and print your own free scavenger hunt here!

If your children aren’t thrilled about starting this list, you can add some fun by filling a jar with marbles.  

Each time a child does something from the list, they are allowed to drop a marble in the jar.  

When it’s full, you can do something special.  Watch a fun movie, eat some ice cream, or play a game together.  

You know what motivates your family!

Use these tricks to make random acts of kindness for kids fun for the whole family!

These acts of kindness for kids will make your world a better place.

You might also like Acts of Kindness: How to Use Kind Words in Beautiful Ways.

Or check out this idea to Raise Money For Schools While Teaching Kindness

How do you show kindness in your home?