Kindness is something every child is born with. It does not always come out on its own though; like anything worth doing, it grows stronger with practice. October gives us a perfect reason to practice. It is National Bullying Prevention Month, and there is no better way to answer unkindness than to fill a whole month with small, deliberate acts of kindness.
So here is a simple idea you can start today. One kind act a day, for all 31 days of October. That is the whole challenge. No cost, no fuss, and nothing your child is too little to do.
Why a whole month
You might wonder whether one small act a day really matters. It does. Kindness works like a muscle; the more a child uses it, the more natural it becomes. A single kind act is a nice moment. Thirty-one of them, one after another, start to become who your child is. By the end of the month, choosing kindness feels less like a task and more like a habit.
How the challenge works
Keep it simple, because simple is what actually gets done. Each morning, pick one kind thing to do that day. Let your child help choose; a kind act they thought of themselves will always mean more than one you handed them. Then at the end of the day, talk about it. How did it feel? How did the other person react? That little conversation is where the real learning happens. To make it easy, I put together a free printable you can hang on the fridge and check off together. It is part of the free kindness kit on my site.
A few ideas to get you started
If you are not sure where to begin, start small and close to home. Day one might be a smile for someone sitting alone. The next day, a thank-you to a teacher or a helper at the store. After that, sharing a toy without being asked, letting someone go first, drawing a picture for a grandparent, or saying sorry when saying sorry is hard. Some of the best acts cost nothing at all; a kind word, as I am fond of saying, can plant a whole forest. The printable has plenty of ideas ready to go, but the ones your child dreams up will always be the best.
Kindness is the brave choice
It helps for a child to know that kindness is not the weak option; it is the strong one. That is the whole heart of the story I wrote about Toby and Barnaby. When Toby is treated unkindly, his friends tell him to hit back. He chooses a kind word instead, and it changes everything, even Barnaby. Being big and loud is easy. Being kind after someone was unkind to you, that takes real courage. If you read The Grumble-Gator's Greatest Raft together during the challenge, you will have the perfect story to point back to all month long.
For classrooms
Teachers, this works beautifully as a class. Put the calendar on the wall and let the whole room choose a kind act together each day. It fits right into your social-emotional learning time, and it gives every child a small, doable way to make the classroom a kinder place. My free classroom kindness kit and educator resources are there whenever you need them.
You will miss a day. That is alright. This was never about a perfect month; it is about showing your child, one small act at a time, that kindness is always within reach. Pick it back up the next morning and keep going.
With the help of Heavenly Father, anything positive is possible. I believe a kinder world starts small, with one child and one kind act at a time.
Cory