PRESCHOOL AND KINDERGARTEN
Fun kindness activities and lesson plans to help students in grades Pre-K and K practice kindness and friendship.
BOOKS TO READ
Friendship and Teamwork
I Will Surprise My Friend by Mo Willems
How Do Dinosaurs Play With Their Friends by Jane Yolen
Frog and Toad Are Friends by Arnold Yobel
The Recess Queen by Alexis O’Neill
Henry and Mudge and the Careful Cousin by Cynthia Rylant
Hugs From Pearl by Paul Schmid
Swimmy by Leo Lionni
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Kindness
How Kind! by Mary Murphy
A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Philip C. Stead
Boo Who? by Ben Clanton
Be Kind by Pat Zietlow Miller
A Hat for Mrs. Goldman: A Story About Knitting and Love by Michelle Edwards
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Also, check out these websites for more books on kindness and friendship!
https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=19359
https://www.weareteachers.com/kindness-books-for-kids/
https://www.readbrightly.com/childrens-books-about-kindness/
https://www.themeasuredmom.com/books-about-friendship/
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INDOOR ACTIVITIES
Who do you appreciate?
Write a note or draw a picture for someone you appreciate. What does this person do for you that you are thankful for? Give your note to the person next time you see them.
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Kindness Tree
Draw a large tree on a poster board with empty branches. Have each student cut out a leaf shape from construction paper and draw/write a way they can be kind to others on it. Fill the branches of the tree with the "kindness leaves" and display the poster in the classroom.
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Kindness Bingo
Pass out kindness bingo cards at the beginning of a month/week and give a reward or enter students in a raffle to win a small prize if they return the cards completed. For a sample kindness bingo card, visit https://www.edutopia.org/discussion/kindness-game-activity
COOPERATIVE GAMES
Feel free to play these games either in competition between two teams or as a class against a timer or stopwatch and have the students try to beat their time.
Hula Hoop Pass Everyone stands, holding hands in a circle. Place a hula hoop between the arms of two players so that it is trapped in the circle. Challenge the group to pass the hula hoop all around the circle without letting go of each other. They can do this by moving through the hula hoop as quickly as possible or by any other creative way they think of.
Sponge Pass Have the students stand in lines more than an arm's length apart. Fill a bucket with water and and place it at one end of the line. Place an empty bucket at the other end of the line. Give the student closest to the full bucket a large sponge. The goal of the team is to use the sponge to fill the empty bucket with the water from the full bucket without moving. (since the team members are more than an arm's length apart they will have to throw the sponge, so they will get pretty wet)
Muddy River (also called nuclear river) Draw a finish line and a start line and provide each team with various gym equipment (jump ropes, mini scooters, rubber spot markers, cones, etc). The goal for the team is for all the players to make it from the start to the finish line without touching the ground. If someone touches the ground, they have to restart. *For an extra challenge, make the whole team restart if someone touches the ground
CRAFTS
Kindness Rocks Make fun painted rocks with smiling faces or pretty pictures on them. Tell students to bring them home and leave them in a park or other outdoor place where they can bring joy to other people.
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JoyGerms National JoyGerm Day is January 8, but any day is great to make this fun craft. Just glue google eyes and a smile made from construction paper or a piece of pipe cleaner/string on a brightly colored pom pom. Once they dry, students can throw them at friends or family members to spread joy and make them laugh.
