Teaching Kids to Be Kind

If you follow my blog, you know that kindness both online and offline, is very important to me. When my now-adult kids were growing up, one of my greatest wishes was that my kids would be nice, would be kind. Of course, I wanted my kids to be successful, too, but I placed kindness in the number one position.

And I’m glad I did. People have often commented on how nice my kids are, on what great role models they are. That may not have been the case if my husband and I hadn’t emphasized character above achievement. Especially when our kids were competitive figure skaters, it would have been easy to emphasize the importance of winning

Sadly, I’ve seen families where winning at all costs was the goal. And often, the kids weren’t nice. In fact, they were sometimes bullies. No matter how much success they achieved, I always felt bad for them. And I felt bad that they missed out on the amazing character lessons that can be learned through involvement in a sport.

Updated 8/12/2020

Resources for Teaching Kids to Be Kind

I have many posts about character education for kids that emphasize kindness. Here are my main posts about teaching kids to be kind. The posts have lots of helpful resources:

Do You Follow the Thumper Theory?

What About Your Kids’ Character?

The Golden Rule for Back to School

Free Bucket-Filling Videos for Character Education

20+ Free Character Education Printables

Kindness Project for Children and Adults of All Ages

Using Variations of Elf on the Shelf to Encourage Kindness

Using Kindness Elves to Encourage Kindness {Ideas and Free Printables}

Using the Christmas Angel to Encourage Kindness

Including a Toddler in the 100 Acts of Kindness Challenge

Using Montessori Principles in the 100 Acts of Kindness Challenge

Free Grace and Courtesy Printable – Manners Matching Cards (at Living Montessori Now to go with my eBook Montessori at Home or School: How to Teach Grace and Courtesy)

The Ultimate Guide to Having Kind Kids This Christmas

New Kindness Elf Ideas for Building Character This Christmas

The Kindness Elves Meet Pete the Cat … and Go on a Great Adventure

Sweet and Simple Kindness Elf Activities for Toddlers

Focusing on Toddler Manners in the 100 Acts of Kindness Challenge

Free Kindness Songs and Rhymes for Home or School {Character Education Resources}

Completing 100 Acts of Kindness (Toddler Manners Challenge) and Starting 100+ Acts of Kindness

Free Songs about Virtues {with Character Education Themes & Unit Studies}

20+ Acts of Kindness Advent Calendars and Christmas Countdowns {Free Printables}

Where to Get the Best Kindness Elves with Options for Skin, Hair, and Clothing Color

How to Make the Switch to Kindness Elves from Elf on the Shelf

The Ultimate Guide to Kindness Elves

How to Have a Kind Classroom with the Kindness Elves {for Teachers and Parents}

Using Kindness Elves and Pete the Cat in a Food and Toy Drive

Encouraging 100 Acts of Kindness with the Kindness Elves

20+ Free Printable Manners Cards, Booklets, Charts, and Games

The Best Books about Manners for Preschoolers

Fun with Kindness Elves, 100 Acts of Kindness, and the Kind Words Challenge

Encouraging Kindness with Gardening Activities and the Kindness Elves

Encourage Kindness with the We’re All Wonders Picture Book

Encourage Kindness with the Wonder Books #ChooseKind

Simple Literature-Based Ideas with the Pink and Green Kindness Elves

How to Do a Simple Version of Camp Kindness

Ways to Be Kind to Humankind for Kids and Adults

How to Help Your Kids Get the Most out of the Wonder Movie

Teaching about Hunger and Poverty through a Food and Toy Driv

Kindness Project for Children and Adults of All Ages {100 Acts of Kindness}

100 Acts of Kindness Challenge for Big Sisters and Big Brothers

Free Inspirational Kindness Videos for a Variety of Ages

How to Add Kind Words from Books to the Kind Words Challenge

How I Prepared a Simple Kindness Elves Activity for Giving Tuesday (or Any Time)

The Kindness Elves, Pete the Cat, a Baby, and a Toddler Join Our Food and Toy Drive

Family 100 Acts of Kindness Challenge for Babies and Older Children

The Kindness Elves and Pete the Cat Join Our 5th Annual Family Food and Toy Drive

Family and Neighborhood 100 Acts of Kindness Challenge for Toddlers on Up

How to Make a 100 Hearts Sensory Bottle (100 Hearts Calming Bottle)

Equality and Peace Resources for Parents and Teachers

Kindness Word Art Freebies

“Golden Rule” Word Art Freebie (“Do to others as you would have them do to you.”)

Kindness Word Art Freebie (based on the J.M. Barrie quote “Always try to be a little kinder than is necessary.”)

“It’s Nice” Word Art Freebie (based on the quote “It’s nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice.”)

“Practice Random Kindness” Word-Art Freebie (based on the quote by Anne Herbert: “Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty.”)

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Learn more about my eBook Montessori at Home or School: How to. Teach Grace and Courtesy!

Photo Credit: Photo by BlueOrange Studio