This world we live in can be terribly cruel and as parents and teachers we have sleepless nights worrying about our children hoping that they are sheltered from this cruelty. We also hope that they see past all these hardships to find the beauty in the world and the good in people. One way that we can do this and encourage them to also be a part of the good is to teach them (and show them) how to be kind, loving and considerate. The younger we start helping them to absorb these traits, the better.
This is why I recently started a Hundred Acts of Kindness activity with my daughter. My little girl is only two-years-old, but she knows when she has done good and when she has done bad. This activity is a way to focus on the good by acknowledging each good deed she does. The chart also encourages her (us) to do at least one kind thing a day, to ensure that not one day goes by without us adding a sticker or ticking off a number.
Like I said, this activity is not limited to any age group, with younger kids you will simply have to facilitate the process more actively and make sure you do take note of when your child has done a good or thoughtful deed. You are also not limited to one deed per day, if you have gone on an outing and your child has done a few good and kind things (like picked up litter, said thank you for her snack, let another child have a turn first) then when you get home, you can discuss the good deeds with him or her while ticking off your blocks.
It is important to acknowledge that this is not an award chart, there will be no treat our special outing once all the blocks have been checked. One of the main goals of this fun and casual lesson is that doing good deeds and being kind IS the reward, to yourself and to others.
The only we can save the world is to raise children who have kind hearts and who purposefully want to make a change. This means that we need to first of all, set the example, and secondly, we need to raise our kids to have the confidence they need to put themselves out their and action their kindness. They need to know that good deeds our honourable, they are not something that you should ever feel ashamed of or embarrassed about.
We also need to remind our kids that while we are good, kind and thoughtful, we also need to remain humble. We do our good deeds because we want to help others, we want the world to be a happy place. We do not do it purely for self-fulfilment or simply because it is expected of us, we do it because to make a difference, we need to be the difference.
