Ideas for Celebrating Random Acts of Kindness Week

Invite students to take park in a Random Acts of Kindness (RAK) Challenge throughout the week! Have them submit pics for each good deed they do, then compile them in a slideshow to share at an end of the week.

It’s easier to be kind to others when you’re kind to yourself first. Help students understand the importance of prioritizing their well-being and focusing on their self-care during RAK Week. Include activities and lessons that highlight focusing on both your physical and mental health – like eating right, exercising, being kind with your thoughts, meditating and more.

Here are some grounding exercises to share with students for when they feel overwhelmed:

• Take deep, calm breaths.
• Notice and list things in your surroundings.
• Expose yourself to strong, pleasant sensations, like a pleasing smell or a favorite blanket.
• Say out loud your name, your age, the date, and your location. List some things you've done today, or are going to do.
• Splash water on your face or run your hands under the faucet.
• Do a body scan meditation, or pay close attention to each of your body parts one by one.
• Make tea. Feel the warmth of it in your hands, and the taste as you sip it calmly.
• Listen to music.
• Play a categories game, and name some types of dogs, or clothing items, or gemstones, or countries, or anything else you can think of.
• Write in your journal.
• Take a mindful walk, either inside or outside. Pay close attention to your body and your surroundings.
• Wiggle around. Dance. Stretch. Be silly and active for a few minutes.
• Any other favorite grounding technique you've heard of or can think of. There's nothing wrong with experimenting!

Cover a large wall with Post-It notes inviting students to write compliments, encouragements or thank-you notes to friends and fellow students to promote positivity and cheer in your school! Teachers and school staff can also write notes of encouragement, or their favorite positive quotes, on Post-It notes to place on bathroom mirrors.

Teach kids that they should not only be kind to the people around them, but also to the world around them. Educate students about environmental issues to help spark an interest in sustainable practices. For a more hands-on lesson plan, consider recruiting everyone’s help to build a school garden! It’s a great way to not only teach students what it takes to create the food they eat, but it also promotes healthy eating and science, math and business skills! And if all that wasn’t reason enough, schools with gardens are known to improve their overall standardized test scores, increase student engagement and see less teacher turnover.

 You can tailor the tasks to each grade and class, like having your geometry class figure out the beds or having art classes create decorative signs to include that feature kindness-themed quotes!

As a reward for all the kind deeds performed throughout the week, cap things off with a kind-themed movie event! Ask attendees to bring in a canned food item for a local food bank, have thoughtful pre-show DIY crafts – like friendship bracelets – and feature a compassionate film that further spreads the week’s message. Here are some of our top picks: