Today is Random Act of Kindness Day
Today is Random Act of Kindness Day! Although doing an act of kindness today wouldn’t exactly be random, it’s still a wonderful concept: Do something nice for someone else with no expectation of anything in return. It could be something big or small. The idea is that if people performed random acts of kindness all year long, they’d inspire kindness in other people. Imagine what a nice world it would be if everyone were kind most of the time!
This is also a wonderful habit to teach your children. With the day falling on a Sunday this year, you may be able to spend much of the day with your kids. Here are some ideas for getting across the message about the importance of random acts of kindness:
- See how many random acts of kindness you can commit as a family. Over breakfast, explain the idea to your children, then decide to go out of your way to be extra kind to everyone that you meet. Think of a way to keep track of your kind deeds, then you can talk about them later, over dinner. Your children may be surprised at how good it feels to do something kind for other people, even though they got nothing in return.
- They say that kindness starts at home: Encourage your kids to commit acts of kindness to each other. One child might do another’s chores for him, for example. They can also be kind to you, by unloading the dishwasher or conspiring to let you take a shower without someone knocking on the door to complain about a sibling! Your spouse or partner might be the right person to suggest this to them!
- Brainstorm about ways to show kindness. A few examples to get you started: A child can go out of his way to hold a door for someone walking into a store several paces behind. If anyone sees someone drop something, they could pick it up for them. If you go through a drive-through and you are in the financial position to do so, pay for the car behind you (this could be at a toll or a fast food restaurant). Buy a box of crackers and a jar of peanut butter, or a bag of apples, or a pair of gloves and a hat, and offer them to a homeless person that you see. Let someone go in front of you in line at the grocery store. Put together a care package for a soldier and get it ready to go in tomorrow’s mail.
Whatever you choose to do with your children, try to carry it out every day, not just today. If your kids are older, they might enjoy the movie, Pay it Forward, which is about a young boy who tries to make the world a better place by committing acts of kindness. (It is rated PG-13, so it’s not appropriate for the little ones!)
Have you committed a random act of kindness lately? Today is a great day to do so!
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I think that day is a great idea. But instead of doing it one day a year we as a family each do it randomly each week. We try to make it a life style.
Love this! I don’t have little ones but I am a youth leader and can and do encourage them to act out in these ways often. When I was a nanny I had found a list on Pinterest of acts of random kindness to do for others with kids.. It was a great time of learning and they had a lot of questions. 🙂
I wish they would have promoted this on the news! I volunteer on a regular basis and serve on my company’s philanthropy committee.
Feeding empty parking meters with extra change I have around!
Happy random act of kindness day!! lets push this goal everyday for a better world!! now give yourself a hug and get to giving folks!!
Yes! My husband and I joined his daughter and her family for an overnight at a B&B up north, and this morning I snuck the owner my credit card and paid for everything!
thanks for the tips, i’ll try to remind them always
I’ve never heard of this. Learn something every day.
i will be doing mine at the nursing home here in town.
I didn’t know there was a dedicated day for random acts of kindness! It’s actually something we try to do everyday, though! 🙂
I love random acts of kindness. If we all did more it is a domino effect. We can change the world. I need to do more…it can make me feel better when I’m down too.
I love this idea i think it would be awesome if everyone could do one a day
I wish they would have promoted this on the news!
Such a great day!
I will carry this message for not only today, but remember it for the rest of the week and see if I can keep the thought for longer than that. I’ve found it’s very fulfilling to help others, even when you are not actually gaining anything yourself. It’s almost like a boost to the self-esteem. It also helps you become more grateful for what you do have.
i love how folks seem to be doing this more these days. so fun & enjoyable. it’s the little things that make life really worth while. ( :
FOR THE GIRLZ
First time I hear about it. Great!
Ideas like this makes the world better.
I love this but I try to be kind to people every day. If I’m at a redbox and have one of their codes that can be used more than once I will tell the other people there and they are appreciative.
Love this idea! I plan on participating!
I love this post! Random acts of kindness are great to give and get, I hope my son picks up this wonderful habit.
Every day is random act of kindness day =)
The woman in front of me at Starbucks paid for my chai tea the other day, so I paid for the woman behind me. Nice to know there are sill good people in this world.
EVERY day should be an act of kindness day. Of course we can’t always do it, but that mindset is healthy and EVERY time we do good, we feel good so we get rewarded as well!
I think this is a great idea. If we all did one nice thing for another each day this world would be a gentler place to live. It would over shower the bad in this world.
should be everyday 🙂
I hope that I am teaching my son how important it is to do kind things for others. Even if it is just coloring a picture or baking cookies for someone- those are 2.5 year old acts of kindness 🙂
I always TRY to be kind everyday. Somedays is harder than others. I do it because I want to set a good example to my granddaughter!!
I love this concept! I have been on the receiving end. There are a group of about 10 people that continually are buying me a Diet Coke a day. It may not seem like much, but to me it’s priceless!
What a really nice post! I LOVE the idea of random acts of kindness. However, I think it should be a way of life, a habit from the heart, NOT just one day of the year, done as an obligatory task to mark the day. I say PAY IT FORWARD! And who knows, it may be you someday that is in need of someone else’s kindness…
I knew of random act of kindness day but everyday in my life is dedicated to doing something good for someone… It is the best thing in the world to do something nice for a stranger… Not many people expect good deeds from strangers, they have lost a lot of faith in humanity but Buying someone a fast food gift card, or going out and getting an elderly person a grocery store gift card is the best!
What a wonderful thing to do!
We should all take every opportunity available to make random acts of kindness … thanks for the reminder (: