20 Ideas for Random Acts of Kindness Projects for Your Family

Do you feel the love in the air? Don’t you see the many hearts and candies all around the stores? Isn’t that what it is all about? No, that is not what love and kindness are about. However, giving gifts, spending time, serving, and showing people you care does show love and kindness. These 20 ideas for random acts of kindness projects for your family will help you all be intentional about caring for people.

Ever watch your child playing with other kids or possibly talking back to you, only to think… “Wow, this little booger is not nice.” If I am the only mom who has thought that, then just humor me and read on – for a “friend.” Ha! I am sure some of you have thought it if only briefly.

Being kind is essentially the act of being friendly, generous, considerate, putting other’s needs before your own. The world around us is pointing your kids to focus on self, but God’s Word says differently.

Without even knowing, the downward and lonely spiral of self-focus creates selfishness and it is increasingly evident in today’s society. People all around the world find it less necessary to have altruistic attributes to their character like kindness, being humble, or being tender-hearted.

Somewhere along the way of achieving our dreams and striving to be successful, we have associated being kind-hearted with being weak, but this couldn’t be further from the truth.

Being kind begins at home.

This is evident, right? We can’t ask our children to display a characteristic that we lack. How will they see it? How will they know when and where to do it? Why aren’t their parents doing what they require of them to do? Teaching our children to be kind begins with parents who display kindness. Like my favorite preacher, Voddie Baucham says, “If you can’t say “Ouch” then say, “Amen.”

The Bible and kindness.

In God’s Word, kindness is reflected as gentleness and one of the characteristics mentioned in the fruit of the Holy Spirit. In the Greek, the word kindness is chrēstotēs. This means a type of benignity, tender concern, and uprightness.

Because God is kind, He provides a way for our salvation. Don’t believe me? Read for yourself.

Titus 3:4–5 says, “But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit…”

Romans 2:4 says, “Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?”

And this verse is a clear instruction for us:

Romans 11:22 says, “Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you too will be cut off.”

Now that we know we should reflect on our own actions so that our child can see us display kindness, also think this. What can you all do as a family to intentionally show kindness to those all around?

First, there are simple actions we can encourage our kids to do for the sake of being kind children.

• Teach your kids to say please and thank you.
• Ensure your kids address authority respectfully (i.e. Yes, sir and Yes, ma’am.)
• Pray for people, even mean people. Especially, mean people.
• Have your kids smile at people when you go out. They may make someone’s day.
• Get them in the habit of helping others. (i.e., if something falls or if someone needs help carrying an item, etc.)
• Be intentional about doing kind things as a family.

Check out these 20 ideas for random acts of kindness projects for your family:

1. Once a quarter or twice a year, as a family, gather up toys, books, clothing to donate to a charity or give to a family in need.

2. Bake cookies as a family and take the batch of cookies to your local fire station or police department.

3. Participate in The Kindness Rocks Project with other families. Or just take the idea to spread kindness to others with your family. The idea is to paint inspirational messages on rocks/stones, leave them in public areas where people can find them. Bring smiles to people you may never know.

4. Are your kids pet lovers? Task your children to save 10 percent of their allowance until they have enough for a bag of pet food to donate to the local animal shelter. Match their amount if you can. Stay for a while, and offer to walk a few dogs.

5. Schedule in one morning a month to pick up trash around the community or local park. Challenge your kids to smile at walkers-by to see how many people they can get to smile back.

6. Make a trip to the local grocery store and have your children select non-perishable items to take to the local food pantry.

7. Task your child to make a card for each family member and friends. Have your kids hand-deliver the letters to each person.

8. Take an afternoon to make blessing bags for the homeless or kids in a pediatric ward. Here are some ideas to help guide you in making blessing bags with your family:

• A Blessing Bag for the Homeless
• 9 Care Package Ideas

9. Lemonade Stand with a twist. Set up a lemonade stand outside your home with the kids. Print out some short kind messages to hand out with each cup of lemonade. Print some random act of kindness printable notes.

10. Visitor dinner project. Invite a newlywed couple (or whomever) over for dinner. However, your family should cook the meal together and serve the couple for a nice dinner – as if they were in a restaurant. Your kids can pick the menu, and dress up as wait staff.

We’re not done yet!

11. Make a Kindness Tree. This is especially good for siblings who quarrel often. The Kindness tree will motivate the kids to do kind things for each other.

12. SHOW your kids metaphorically what kindness does. Use the two-apple story to teach your kids what it means to be kind. Basically, take two apples and ask your kids to describe how they are the same. You take one of the apples and say you don’t like it. Drop it, squeeze it say how much you don’t like it. Ask your kids to do the same. Take care of the other apple. Then cut the apples in half to show the darkness in the apple that was treated wrongly and the typical beautiful apple of the other one. Begin to talk to your children about what it does when we are not kind to others.

13. Create a kindness jar. Have a family meeting or just around the dinner table, discuss different ways we can serve, or be kind to others. Place the ideas you come up within a jar. Use the jar to do random acts of kindness, randomly, throughout the month.

14. Make simple “Amazing Boxes.” Assemble simple boxes and place little treats or trinkets for a friend or family member. Each one made could have a note of encouragement or kind words.

15. “If You Can Be Anything, Be Kind” color project. Print out the coloring page for children to color; yes, even older kids. I enjoyed coloring it myself with my kids. Use this time to discuss times when each of you experienced or witnessed someone being mean or unkind to another person. Talk about it and discuss the experience. What could each of you have done differently or how would you have handled the situation?

16. Volunteer as a family. Check out our article about why it is important to volunteer as a family. If you don’t know where to start after reading this insight, then no worries. Explore these 71 unexpected ways to volunteer as a family.

17. Around Christmas time, have your children each order a book from the Amazon Wish List of the Prison Book Program. This program sends books to prisoners to help provide them with educational and spiritual development. You can each read the book yourselves and share a summary.

18. Search for Honor Flights celebrations to attend as a family. Ever heard of these? This is when you make welcome home signs and head to the airport to greet veterans coming home from deployment.

19. Start a Little Free Library from home. There are only five easy steps that your family can take to open communication with other kids and families. This is an opportunity to give little random kind notes to people as well inside the books.

20. Start your random acts of kindness schedule throughout the year. This is super fun. These small actions are quick, straightforward ways you can demonstrate kindness with your kids and put smiles on faces across your community.

Here is a list of quick family random acts of kindness to list on your schedule:

*When in the car together, pay for a person’s meal behind you in a drive-through.

*Put quarters in a vending machine so people will have a free snack on you.

*Carry around snack bags to hand out to the homeless you may see.

*Offer to babysit as a family, so kids know they need to help make it a fun family night.

*Go to the local Dollar Store and stick one-dollar bills around for others to find.

*Leave random uplifting notes or Bible verses around a store for people to see (i.e., You are irreplaceable, You are beautiful, The World is Better with YOU in it, etc.)

*Doorbell and ditch drive-bys. Make some cookies and drop them off at the front of the neighbor’s door. Have your little ones hit the doorbell and run back in the car. They will love it!

FREE Bonus Resources on Kindness for Kids

Random Acts of Kindness for Kids | Chaos, and Quiet

The Kindness Campaign FREEBIE | Rainbow Sky Creations

Kindness BINGO | Highlights.com

12+ Random Acts of Kindness Calendar for the Whole Year | Natural Beach Living

Little Hope Notes – Free Printable | More Like Grace

Random Acts of Kindness Printable Notes | Gluesticks  

100 Random Acts of Kindness Freebie Fun | Classroom Freebies

Random Acts of Kindness BINGO | The Many Little Joys

Teach Kids Kindness (Printable Pack) | Proverbial Homemaker

Random Acts of Kindness Books & Resources:

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Random Acts of Kindness: 101 Stories of Compassion and Paying It ForwardKindness Matters Cards – Kindness is Contagious Challenge Card (Box of 100)Random Acts of KindnessRandom Acts of KindnessKindness Counts: A Story for Teaching Random Acts of Kindness (Without Limits)100 Days Of Kindness: Spreading Happiness, Joy, and Love with 100 Acts of Random Kindness!Kindness Cards Random Acts of Kindness Kids Kindness Card Kit 31 Days of Kindness Challenge DeckRandom Acts of Kindness Then & Now: The 20th Anniversary of a Simple Idea That Changes LivesMake & Share Random Acts of Kindness: Simple Crafts and Recipes to Give and Spread Joy

 

The reason why I call these Random Acts of Kindness Projects is that after your kids put their kindness to action, they can write short reports about the experience. After corrections and final projects are completed for the year, all reports can be put together as a record of their efforts to reflect on what it meant to others and them.

The things you do as a family to practice kindness does not have to be huge ventures. Every little gesture counts. So, remember to praise your children when you see them being kind. Then, be the example you want them to follow.