Kindness Challenge

Working at a year round school has its challenges.  One issue that happens frequently is kids getting on each other's nerves by the end of the school year.  My list of friendship problems seems to TRIPLE the last month of school. So, in an attempt to avoid this problem last year, I came up with The Kindness Challenge Brochure. I wanted my students to be aware of this issue and make a concentrated effort to promote kindness at school.  It ended up being a big hit! I did this with my 3rd-6th grade students.   

The Challenge...

Each student received their own black and white copy of the Kindness Brochure to color and personalize. The challenge was for students to complete all 16 squares of Be A Friend Bingo. Once each activity was completed, students could mark that square with an X.  Before returning it to me, each student was expected to summarize the brochure with their parent(s)/guardian and get a signature. I really wanted this activity to generate some good conversation about positive things that were happening at school. Once signed, students could turn in their brochure to me and receive a small prize. 

What I LOVED most about this activity was watching and hearing stories of kind acts.  I received several reports from teachers of positive acts of friendship taking place in their classrooms and out at recess.  I passed out approximately 455 brochures.  I received 327 back.  When I stopped to think about it.....327(students) x 16(squares) = 5,232 ACTS OF KINDNESS. That totally blew me away!! As I was wrapping up this lesson, I had several students ask if we could do the challenge again next year! That made my whole day! So, I think I will add a sequel to The Kindness Challenge for the upcoming school year. 

Example of Completed Kindness Brochure

This activity can be found here in my Teachers Pay Teachers store. What activities do you do at your school to promote kindness? I would love to hear! Please comment below.