25 Acts Of Kindness To Keep Kids Busy In Lockdown

Whether you want to encourage kindness to family members, friends or strangers, random acts of kindness can come in all different forms and sizes! From donating unwanted toys and clothes to giving compliments, you may just pick up some kindness ideas to use yourself!

1. Donate unwanted toys: ask kids under 10 to decide which toys they no longer need and explain to them how thankful other children would be to receive their donations. Or just leave them outside your house with a handmade sign to say that they're free - and let someone re-home them!
2. Say thank you: encourage kids to give thanks for the little things! Give thanks to their siblings for making them laugh, or for sharing toys. For older children or teenagers, get them to give thanks to someone for a deeper reason e.g. thanking their grandparents for the lessons that they have taught them.
3. Give compliments: this one is similar to the above, but giving a compliment to someone teaches children to be more selfless and to think of others' feelings as well as their own.
4. Paint a picture for your friends: get younger children to paint a picture for their school friends. Take a picture and send it to their parents, or go the old-fashioned route and post it to them.
5. Ask your neighbours if their dog needs walking: this is perfect for teenagers to gain a sense of community, through calling neighbours and offering selfless favours. It will not only help to build their confidence, but also to realise the true value of building good relationships!
6. Smile at 20 people: whilst out and about, encourage younger children to smile at everyone they pass - it might just make someone's day a little less lonely.
7. Be kind to animals: encourage children to feed the birds in your back garden with some bread crumbs that you can make using your loaf!
8. Send a video message: record a video of your kids telling family members why they love them. Send them the video and praise them for saying such kind words.
9. Pick up litter: go on a litter picking walk with the kids. Wear gloves or bring tongs to make sure they're not touching anything nasty! Put them in a black bin bag en route and enjoy thanks from your community!
10. Write a letter: encourage kids to write a surprise letter to mum or dad to make them smile. This is perfect for children who want to practise their writing!
11. Write a kindness poem: ask kids to make up a poem about being kind. Inspire them to read it every morning to set them up in a kind mood for the rest of the day.
12. Adopt an animal online: if you're able to donate a few pounds a month towards your child's chosen animal, why not teach them the importance of being charitable? There are lots of websites that allow kids to name their animals and to print off pictures etc.
13. Ask for donations for their birthday: you can encourage your children to ask for a few donations in their name instead of presents!
14. Inspire your kids to surprise you: let them know that surprises are a really great act of kindness and that you would appreciate a surprise bath or a handpicked bunch of flowers from the garden?
15. Leave out water for the wildlife: especially in hot weather, some of your wildlife would be appreciative of a water bowl! Birds may want to bath and foxes might want a drink. If you've got lots of gadgets at home - why not set up a camera to catch them using it when you've gone inside!
16. Put together a shoebox: go on a hunt around the house for things that you could donate to a homeless person. Smellies, dried foods and an item of clothing in a shoebox would make a lovely gift to give to someone.
17. Penny hunt: drop a few pennies on your daily walk for other kids to find later on! It may just make their day to find a penny and pick it up.
18. Shout to a neighbour: inspire kids to start a conversation with neighbours over the fence - but more importantly, get them to ask questions. "How are you doing?" and "what have you been doing?" will be greatly welcomed by bored neighbours!
19. Teach someone something: ask your kids to take turns in teaching each other something, or ask them to teach you something that they learnt at school. Be sure to express your thanks for this new knowledge!
20. Say "yes": encourage them to say yes to everything they're asked that day (this game can sometimes turn a bit silly).
21. Be grateful: before they go to bed, ask them what they have been grateful for that day.
22. Make a daisy chain: explain to siblings that random acts of kindness and love will make their relationships much stronger!
23. And finally: if during lockdown, your kids haven't been spending their pocket money, encourage them to put their money together with their siblings to save up for a joint purchase! Make sure they something extra special to show them that it is always better to share.

If you've been inspired by our random acts of kindness today and you'd like to do more - why not make a kindness calendar with the kids? Schedule daily or weekly acts for them to engage with and reap the rewards of your good karma!