The past few days we’ve all been focused on buying. From Christmas decor to Christmas gifts, there has been so much stuff that we “needed”. (Was I the only one who caved and bought the Instant Pot because everyone in their Facebook thread was raving about it?!)
Now that Black Friday and Cyber Monday are over we’ve come to Giving Tuesday. A day to give back, do something nice for others and give to our favorite charities. I wrote a post a couple weeks ago about five charities we support over the holidays and if you search #GivingTuesday on social media today I’m sure you will find dozens more you can donate to.
Giving money is great and I hope that you will all make a donation to a favorite charity, but I also wanted to share 35 ways that you can get your kids involved in doing random acts of kindness. Let’s all pick one to do today and brighten up someone’s day!
1) Leave a kind note in an unexpected place (like the fitting room of a store or a book in the library)
2) Hold the door open for someone
3) Buy a dozen flowers and pass them out to people
4) Rake a neighbor’s leaves
5) Leave something special in your mailbox for the person who delivers your mail
6) Bake someone cookies “just because”
7) Offer to help someone with their grocery bags
8) Send a note to a loved one telling them what you love about them
9) Buy the coffee/meal for the person behind you in the drive-thru
10) Have your kids make cards and then bring them to a nursing home
11) Smile at someone who seems overwhelmed and ask if they need help
12) Pay for someone else’s gas when you are at the gas station
13) Leave a couple dollars in the Redbox movie container when you return it
14) Send a gift card to someone anonymously via email (Even a $5 gift card can brighten a day!)
15) Leave a small gift on your neighbor’s porch and then ding dong ditch
16)Â Offer to babysit a friend’s kids- for free- so they can have a date night or go to the store solo
17) Bring some blankets, hats and gloves to a homeless shelter
18) Leave an extra large tip for the server when you go out to eat
19) Put change in the salvation army bucket
20) Offer to return a cart for someone after they load groceries into their car
21) Leave pennies on the ground (heads up!) for kids to find
22) Let someone in front of you when you are sitting in traffic
23)Â Shovel your neighbor’s driveway
24) Give up your seat for someone
25) Drop off food at a food pantry
26) Pay for someone else’s groceries
27) Give a genuine compliment to a stranger
28) Visit a nursing home
29) Pay the toll for the person behind you
30) Buy extra cat food or dog food and drop it off at an animal shelter
31) Say thank you to the folks you come into contact with as you are out and about
32) Volunteer your time
33) Gather items you don’t need any more and drop them off at Salvation Army or Goodwill
34) When you receive great customer service ask to speak to a manager and let them know
35) Let someone go in front of you in line
What ideas do you have? I’d love to hear about Random Acts Of Kindness that your family has done!
This is a great list! So often it takes such a small thing to really make someone’s day that much brighter.
I love to hear about random acts of kindness. I like to leave the quarter in the grocery cart for the next person so they don’t have to look for one.
love Love LOVE your list of random acts of kindness. It’s perfect! I’m adding some of yours to my December list of things to do. Thanks!
So many great ideas. We actually have plans to surprise some neighbors with homemade ornaments later this week.
I absolutely adore this! There is far too little kindness in the world. Thank you so much!