kindness

Create More Kindness By Being Kind

Create More Kindness By Being Kind

We create more kindness by being kind.

-Katie Hurley

In this podcast, I talk about how I got inspired to record this after reading a post on Katie Hurley’s Facebook wall. I also talk about how kindness is related to friendship and social skills, and I give a few ideas to help get you started in doing some kind acts, wherever you are. Take a listen!

Encouraging Kindness at Home and School

Encouraging Kindness at Home and School

As a school counselor, I was always looking for ways to improve the school climate. There was a lot of talk about bullying prevention, and figuring out what sorts of programs worked. 

A Visual Activity to Help Kids Understand the Power of Their Words

A Visual Activity to Help Kids Understand the Power of Their Words

I love using this intervention with children to help them visually see the impact that words can have on others. This activity can be used at home or at school.

10 Magnificent Games to Practice Social and Emotional Skills with Kids

10 Magnificent Games to Practice Social and Emotional Skills with Kids

Inside: An overview of 10 games that can be used to work on social-emotional learning at school, in small group settings or at home.

What was your favorite game to play as a kid? For me, it was Monopoly. My sister and I played this game all the time - it would keep us entertained for hours on a cold winter day.

Random Act of Kindness Get a Blanket and Give a Blanket

Random Act of Kindness Get a Blanket and Give a Blanket

“When was the last time you did something kind for someone without being asked?”

I asked this question at dinner recently. My daughter said she helped someone in school  find a pencil they lost. I mentioned how my husband had held the door for a couple of people at the coffee shop this morning.

Social Skills Activities to Help Kids See How Their Behavior Impacts Others

Social Skills Activities to Help Kids See How Their Behavior Impacts Others

As your daughter gets off the bus, you notice her flushed face and her eyes are filled with tears. You ask what’s wrong, and the words come flooding out. “Julia said she won’t play with me at recess anymore. I don’t understand why she’s mad. I was just telling her the right way to play!”

Is it Good Teasing or Hurtful Teasing?

Is it Good Teasing or Hurtful Teasing?

“You lost your phone again?!! Seriously?” He smiles and chortles while dialing on his own cell phone so I can find mine. Fingers crossed it’s not on silent or do not disturb.

I misplace my cell phone at least twice a day. It’s out of control. I know I should create some sort of system, a place where it always goes, but I haven’t done that yet. Instead I lose it, then spend a few minutes searching, and inevitably, my husband sees me or I ask him to help me. He teases me about it all the time. But it’s kind of our thing we do. I lose my phone and ask for help, he teases me and helps me find it. Rinse and repeat daily :-)

Encouraging Kindness in Children

Encouraging Kindness in Children

Kindness is key in making good human beings. When I think about how I want my children to be as adults, the one value that I always come back to is that I want them to be kind. I want them to be kind to each other, and to other people. I want them to have compassion for others. I want them to treat others as they would want to be treated. I want them to do this not because they expect something in return or want praise but rather because it’s the right thing to do.

Random Acts of Kindness for Families

Random Acts of Kindness for Families

I love Random Acts of Kindness. I think it first started when I heard about what a local girl scout troop had done, completing Random Acts of Kindness. I loved the idea, and integrated it into some groups I was working with at the time. Recently, I’ve been doing acts of kindness with my family. Sometimes it can be overwhelming to try and think of a random act of kindness to complete. Here are several simple ideas to get you started. There are also websites where you can look for tons of other ideas for acts of kindness.

Random Acts of Kindness: Helping Out a Neighbor

Random Acts of Kindness: Helping Out a Neighbor

I love our neighborhood. We moved here 14 years ago, and we knew immediately that we lucked out with our entire neighborhood. When moved to the suburbs, we were just a couple of city kids; we used black trash bags to bag our leaves; we didn’t know that wasn’t how it’s done in the suburbs ;-) I think every single one of our neighbors gently set us on the right path. That’s how it is here. We look out for each other: we watch each other’s houses when we’re away on vacation, we water each other’s gardens and we even have block parties together.

Kindness Wall with Free Printable!

Kindness Wall with Free Printable!

I originally posted this back in September. I created a free printable to make implementing a kindness wall easier, see below!!

Our kids tend to get along pretty well, and even when there’s an argument, they can get past it pretty quickly.  However, at the end of the summer and for the first week of the school year, our kids seemed to be more cranky and less patient with each other than normal. I’m not sure if it was because their bodies hadn’t adjusted to the new schedule or if they were just tired of going all day.  All I knew was that I wanted to change how they were acting toward one another.  I wanted them to focus on showing kindness to one another.  When I was a School Counselor, I helped start a Kindness Wall of Fame at my school.  Every time any adult saw a child do something kind, the adult could choose to give that child a star for being a kind member of our school.  I decided to implement our own Kindness Wall at home.

Kindness Wall

Kindness Wall

My kids tend to get along pretty well, and even when there’s an argument, they can get past it pretty quickly.  However, at the end of the summer and for the first week of the school year, our kids seemed to be more cranky and less patient with each other than normal. I’m not sure if it was because their bodies hadn’t adjusted to the new schedule or if they were just tired of going all day.  All I knew was that I wanted to change how they were acting toward one another.  I wanted them to focus on showing kindness to one another.  When I was a School Counselor, I helped start a Kindness Wall of Fame at my school.  Every time any adult saw a child do something kind, the adult could choose to give that child a star for being a kind member of our school.  I decided to implement our own Kindness Wall at home.

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