Fantastic Kindness Club Ideas with a Free Good Deeds Checklist
Want to change the culture at your school? Then I have a treat for you with these 37 kindness club ideas for kids with an editable checklist to download!
The benefits of teaching kindness at school are proven and so is being part of a group for a stronger sense of belonging. Coming together with others in a social setting to participate in acts of service can improve emotional wellbeing. A kindness club is a fantastic way to combine both of these mental health superpowers and create a warm, inclusive community.
A strong sense of belonging in the early years has fundamental benefits for children and flow-on effects for their learning, development and wellbeing.
Kindness and caring can often take a back seat to competition and self-serving. A kindness club can foster empathy, compassion and essential life skills children will use for the rest of their lives. It provides a safe and structured setting to learn the power of compassion and the meaning of friendship.
More...
I love how an environment like this creates a sense of community and builds positive character traits. I want to motivate you to consider starting your own with lots of kindness club ideas for elementary school to use below.
Start Your Kindness Club
When you've ticked all the administrative boxes for your random acts of kindness club, you don’t need a lot to get started. The basics are a place to meet, students wanting to make a difference, a few committed teachers, and some kindness club ideas and activities.
It’s important to make students feel like their ideas matter because they do. If you provide everything for them, you’re robbing them of the opportunity to use their imagination and learn how to lead. Students who feel they have an active role feel a real sense of ownership and a responsibility to protect their club and its members.
Your first meeting sets the foundations of your kindness club as a warm and inclusive community that anyone at school can join. You can inspire your founding members to recruit other students as time goes by but in the beginning it’s easier to start small.
You might like to set a few basic rules to reinforce kindness and respect, inclusion, and responsibility. It can be helpful to make a poster as a reminder. Discuss what a kindness club does and the positive values that students will learn.
Here’s a short, kid friendly explanation:
A Kindness Club is a team of superheroes who spread kindness and positive vibes at school. They come up with fun ideas like leaving surprise notes, helping people out, or doing acts of kindness in the community. It's a club where kids learn to be extra nice and make the world a better place, one good deed at a time!
Reasons to Start a Kindness Club
There are so many benefits to having a kindness club at your school. Here are some to consider:
Set Goals and Objectives
For an effective kindness club, you want to create some structure and objectives. Start by defining specific and measurable goals for efficient planning and organization. This ensures your efforts are purposeful, aligned with your mission, and provides a clear road map to success.
With a set of goals, students can evaluate the outcomes of their initiatives. It allows them to track their progress and the impact of their schoolwide kindness activities. Assessing also teaches valuable life skills like data collection, analysis, time management, and problem-solving. Measuring success reinforces a sense of purpose and accomplishment to encourage more enthusiastic participation.
Fun Kindness Club Activities
When you've made the decision to start a kindness club, you will need some kindness activities for elementary students. The truth is, there are many regular activities you can use but you just need to put a kindness twist on them. Don't worry, there are a lot of suggestions below and it's just a matter of choosing a few to get you started.
Don't forget you can also download all these ideas on this handy checklist! There's a ready-made option to print and use or create your own with the Google Slidesâ„¢ template.
â–º Download Your FREE Editable Kindness Club Activities Checklist
1. Kindness Suggestion Box
Students need to feel they’re an important part of your community so encourage them to share their own ideas for acts of kindness.
Create a kindness suggestion box where they can submit good deeds or other ideas they want the group to consider as a kindness club activity.
2. Positive Post-It Notes
Grab a bunch of post-it notes and have students write positive phrases or short kindness quotes on them. They can leave them in student and staff bathrooms as a fun and uplifting surprise.
Here are some ideas for your positive notes:
3. Kindness Calendar
Create a monthly kindness calendar with activities and challenges for club members to complete. This way they will always know what is coming up and they can be excited about planning ahead.
4. Compliment Bookmarks Challenge
This is an absolute favorite! Students make a bookmark with a picture and a compliment on it. They can turn them over and write a personal message to an unknown schoolmate. Then the fun part starts as they sneak off to the library to hide their gift for unsuspecting lenders to discover.
You can do the same things with kindness bookmarks. See them here and how to join the challenge!
5. Thank You Notes
Organize a thank you note campaign to express gratitude to individuals or groups. These can include school staff, crossing supervisors, parents, or other community members making a difference.
You might like to choose one recipient that everyone writes to shower them with compliments.
6. Kindness Book Club
Bring students together to read books that focus on kindness, friendship, and understanding. Discuss the characters and their actions to teach them about respect and kindness. They can learn a lot about empathy and treating others the way they would like to be treated themselves.
This educational club can enhance comprehension skills while instilling a lifelong love of reading.
7. Community Service Projects
Plan community service activities, such as cleaning up a local park or collecting items for a food drive. This is a great one for whole school participation.
Simply ask everyone to bring an item of food to add to care packages for families doing it tough in your school.
8. Kindness Quilt
Create a paper kindness quilt where each student contributes a patch with a kind message or drawing. This is a powerful collaborative activity to encourage kindness and unity.
This creative and meaningful bulletin board is a reminder of the behavior you expect in your classroom.
9. Kindness Rocks
Paint inspirational messages or pictures on rocks and place them around the school or in the community for others to find. You can encourage students to reflect on the positive message on a rock they find and then place it elsewhere for someone else to discover.
Don’t forget to seal your rocks to protect them from the weather. Get some inspiration from my Pinterest board!
10. Kindness Rocks Garden
Find a space in the school grounds where students can place painted kindness rocks with positive messages. This can become a permanent display for students and visitors to enjoy. You may even use this project as a tribute to someone the school has lost.
This beautiful display was created by students at Zue Bales Intermediate in Texas and shared by their then counsellor, Barbara Gruener (The Corner on Character).
11. Kindness Buddy Bench
A Kindness Buddy Bench is a simple yet powerful symbol of inclusivity and compassion. It's a place within the school grounds where students understand that people who sit there are feeling lonely or sad. The bench provides an invitation for anyone to sit and chat or offer comfort to those who are alone.
A buddy bench promotes empathy by encouraging students to look out for their peers. And it offers vulnerable students a place where they feel a sense of belonging and community.
12. Kindness Poetry Competition
Organize a creative writing contest where students compose poems or stories about kindness. Allow kids to read winning entries at assembly or share with the community through newsletters or social media.
13. Bucket Filling
The bucket filler concept is well-known by children all over the world. They love it because it's easy for them to understand and there's a whole movement that started from the books. If you haven't read a bucket filler book with younger students, then I highly recommend starting there.
There are lots of activities you can engage your kindness club in to fill buckets and fun ways to watch kindness grow.
14. Kindness Recipe Book
Collaborate with students to create a "Kindness Recipe Book". Filled with simple acts of kindness, it can be shared with family and friends to promote kindness beyond the school gate.
15. Kindness Tree
A kindness tree is another engaging whole school or year level bulletin board to promote kindness. The idea is for students to report good deeds they witness or receive on tree leaves so they can watch the tree come to life! It's the perfect way to get the whole school involved, even teachers and admin staff.
16. Kindness Posters
Design and display posters around the school with messages promoting kindness and empathy. Get your kindness club members to work together to promote teamwork, consideration, and sharing. Their colorful artwork makes wonderful reminders for visual learners, absorbing and reinforcing positive values as students are looking around.
17. Kindness Olympics
The Kindness Olympics is a fun event to promote kindness, empathy, and teamwork. Participants work in teams to compete in a variety of challenges designed to encourage acts of goodwill.
Events could include:
Judges evaluate teams based on originality, creativity, enthusiasm, and the quality of their acts of kindness. Bonus points can be awarded for exceptional acts of kindness, sportsmanship, and teamwork.
â–º Download Your FREE Editable Kindness Club Ideas Checklist
18. Kindness Assembly
Encourage others to join by promoting the kindness club by presenting at assembly. Students can encourage membership by sharing:
19. Kindness Journals
Encourage students to keep kindness journals to record their acts of kindness. They can take photos and write about their feelings and the way others have responded to their good deeds.
20. Kindness Stories
There’s nothing more inspiring than a positive story. Encourage students to write about the kindness they have seen or received. Ask them to be descriptive by including how it made them feel and the emotions they experienced.
Students can read stories at assembly or visit classrooms to share and invite listeners to share about their own good deeds.
21. Kindness Art Gallery
Allow students to display artwork promoting kindness, inclusivity, and empathy they have created. This makes a colorful visual reminder of the importance of kindness that students and visitors will enjoy seeing. Encourage others to add their artwork to your gallery.
22. Kindness Secret Agents
Start an undercover "Secret Agents" program where students perform anonymous acts of kindness. This can be for peers, teachers, or parents. This creates a fun sense of mystery and excitement. It also encourages students to be kind without any expectation of acknowledgement or reward.
23. Gratitude Circles
Encourage students to hold and lead regular gratitude circles to share what they are thankful for. These meetings can be a powerful way to nurture a growth mindset, a deeper sense of empathy and an understanding of the value of expressing gratitude. They're also effective for improving emotional wellbeing and strengthening bonds with their peers.
24. Kindness Box to Report Good Deeds
Have a kindness box or barrel where students can deposit notes about the kindness they see. These can be pulled out and read at whole-school assemblies and recognized with a certificate or small gift.
25. Online Kindness
Use the school's social media or website to post kindness stories and encourage participation. You might even be able to recruit some parent helpers!
26. Kindness Pet Therapy
Arrange visits from therapy animals to the school to provide comfort and promote kindness. Students can interact with dogs or cats and learn about empathy and being kind to animals.
27. Kindness Bulletin Boards
Visual reminders of kindness and friendship are extremely important. A bulletin board can be a fantastic way to bring the school together to create something special to remind them of the behavior everyone appreciates. There are lots of wonderful examples for you to look at here.
28. Kindness Newsletter
Create a school-wide kindness newsletter. Ask students and teachers to share good deeds, stories, and photos to encourage more kindness.
29. Kindness Coloring Pages
This is a great one for times when you need an easy activity because you've had a hectic week. Use kindness coloring pages while you're chatting and use them as posters to hang around the school or to pop on a kindness bulletin board.
30. Kindness Photo Challenge
Launch a photography challenge where students capture moments of kindness and empathy in action. They can submit their photos, and kindness club members can display the best around the school.
31. Kindness Adventure Club
Organize nature walks that emphasize the importance of kindness to animals and the environment. Students can clean up a park and plant flowers or trees to learn about caring for the world around them. If they've made some kindness rocks, this is a great time to hide them for others to find.
32. Kindness Time Capsule
Like a time capsule but all about kindness. Have students write letters that express their hopes and commitment for a kinder future. Make compliment cards to students in the future or include painted rocks with positive messages. Bury or store the capsule with an open date on a recognized kindness day in the future.
33. Kindness Bingo Challenge
This challenge is so much fun and can be used to drive engagement in classrooms. When students experience the joy or being kind, they're sure to want to join your club!
Kindness bingo encourages students to complete acts of kindness, promotes teamwork, respect, and consideration. You can grab my ready-made resource for an interactive activity students love. Members can engage classmates to promote the club by giving them a feel-good experience.
34. Kindness Pledge
Have members work together to create a large kindness pledge poster. Students in the club can sign their name to pledge to be kind and caring citizens who treat themselves and others with respect. You can also extend the pledge to others in the school.
35. Kindness Celebrations
Hold celebrations or events to highlight the growth of your club and school community. Students should feel proud of their achievements and contribution to a kinder and more peaceful world.
36. Kindness Mentorship
Pair older elementary students with younger ones in a mentorship program focused on kindness. Older students can serve as role models and provide guidance on how to be kind and compassionate in various situations. They can participate in activities and anonymous acts of kindness together.
37. Collaborate with Other Clubs
Partner with other clubs or organizations to amplify the impact of your elementary school club ideas and activities.
Create Your Own Checklist
Work together to create a personalized checklist of things your members can participate in. You can download a ready-made checklist that includes the ideas above and have students vote on things they’d like to do.
Assess and Evaluate
Make a point to review your goals and assess the impact of your club's activities. You can do this by collecting data for each of the ideas you complete. Evaluating your goals and achievements provides valuable insights into the club's impact and effectiveness. This helps you see where to make changes if they're needed.
Evaluating also allows students to reflect on their efforts and see tangible results. It fosters a deeper understanding of empathy, compassion, and their ability to make a positive change in the world.
Tips for Collecting Data
Gathering data can include documenting the number and types of kindness events, participation rates, and impact on the school community.
Surveys and Feedback
Create a feedback form or survey to assess what participants enjoyed the most or to find out which activities had the most impact.
You Can Include:
Also survey students and teachers who were not part of activities to assess the broader impact in the community. Ask if they notice more positive and inclusive behavior.
Behavioral Observations
Teams can observe and document changes in student behavior and interactions after each activity. Did they notice students showing more empathy and kindness? Are there fewer incidents of bullying or unkind behavior?
Personal Accounts
Students, teachers, and parents can share positive experiences or good deeds they've seen or received as a result of the club's activities. These may be deposited via a suggestion or report box that’s left at the office.
Attendance and Participation
Track attendance and participation rates for club meetings and events. An increase in participation over time can be an indicator of the club's success. Poor attendance could guide you to change some of the activities you have scheduled.
Share Positive Results
Share your findings when you have positive results and clear improvements in the community. Tell school administration, committees, parents, and the wider community about the positive changes your club has made. It’s also a great way to encourage others to join and take kindness beyond the school gate.
Celebrate Achievements
Making a difference to the culture of a classroom or school community is a great achievement so celebrate your success!
Praise and mark your achievements and milestones, both big and small in some way. This could be a goals poster, a large jar that you add pompoms to or some other fun way to watch your impact grow. Celebrating reinforces your positive actions and motivates everyone to keep doing their best.
The goal of your club is to create a supportive and inclusive community where everyone feels they are valued and belong. Be sure to adapt activities to suit the age and preferences of your students.
I'd love to hear how you set up your kindness club and the feedback you have from students. Please drop me a line and let me know!
