Easy Everyday Acts of Kindness

Posted on February 6, 2013July 11, 2022 by Pragmatic Mom

Easy Acts of Kindness for Every Day

I’m thrilled to be joining Toddler Approved and other great kid bloggers from the Kid Bloggers Network on a 100 Acts of Kindness Challenge.

10 Simple Acts of Kindness Kids Can Do via The Good Long RoadKindness Project for All Ages via Living Montessori Now and Raising Figure Skaters25 Acts of Kindness {as a Mom}Being Kind to Strangers via Kitchen Counter ChroniclesA Valentine’s Day Countdown via One Perfect DayKindness at Home via Glittering Muffins

15 Neighbor Gifts via Inspired by Family Magazine

Book Giving Day via Smiling Like Sunshine

Remembering those who Serve via JDaniel 4’s Mom

Easy Everyday Acts of Kindness via Pragmatic Mom

After doing 48 Random Acts of Kindness for my birthday last month, I realized that 1) it just requires mindfulness to add a few acts of kindness every day, and 2) I discovered lots of easy (and fun) acts of kindness. I did 3 to 4 acts every day for a few weeks in order to hit 48, my new age.

As I rounded 30 acts, I looked up more ideas for Random Acts of Kindness. Yes, I am into research.

I also realized that there are acts of kindness that I’d do every day without noticing. And, even more importantly, there were missed opportunities for an act of kindness that I didn’t notice or act upon without my 48 acts of kindness challenge which really heightened my awareness.

10 Easy Everyday Acts of Kindness

Here’s 10 Easy Acts of Kindness and a bonus not-so-easy one at the end based on a picture book, of course!

1. Keep extra change in your pocket and/or car to put in meters that are about to expire. Bonus Karma points if the Meter Maid is lurking nearby!

2. Pick up trash at your school, playground or dog park.

3. Cheer for the opposing team your child is playing against, especially when the opposing team is losing badly and does a great play.

4. Recycle.

5. Thank your crossing guard as you cross the street.

6. Rescue spiders and other insects that find their way into your house.

7. Hold the door for someone. (And say thank you to the person who holds the door for you.)

8. Refuse plastic or paper bags at stores when you are able to carry your purchases instead.

9. Turn off all excess lights in the house.

10. Give a sincere compliment.

Bonus Act of Kindness based on a Picture Book

Fairminded Fran and the Three Small Black Community Cats by Linda Elder

If you’ve ever spotted a feral cat in your neighborhood and weren’t sure what to do, this would be a great picture book to read with your kids. Fran, a little girl, spots wild cats near her elementary school. Not all the other kids want to help them, but Fran is determined. First, she feeds them. Then, she learns about a catch, neuter, and release program for feral cats. Her compassion helps to bring the other kids around.

This bonus idea is for anyone who notices feral cats in their community. You don’t have to catch the wild cats yourself either. Many communities have volunteers that will do that if they know about wild cats. It’s an effective and humane program.

Will YOU join our 100 Acts of Kindness Project?

How can you participate?

1. Accept the challenge to accomplish 100 acts of kindness with your families or students over the next four weeks (Jan 21-Feb 14).

2. Comment to let us know that you are joining us!

3. Create a way to record your acts of kindness. You can find several ideas here from last year.

4. Participate in each simple weekly challenge. We will give you one each Monday for four weeks. Come back to this landing page each Monday to find out your challenge for the week. The challenge images below will take you to each blog when you click on them starting on January 21st.

5. Join us in celebrating with a Kindness Celebration on Valentine’s Day, Feb 14th!

Everyone is invited to join in this kindness celebration! We can all do small things to make our homes, families, communities, schools, and workplaces just a little bit better.

Please leave a comment with an act of kindness that you are thinking of doing. Thank you!

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BEST #OWNVOICES CHILDREN’S BOOKS: My Favorite Diversity Books for Kids Ages 1-12 is a book that I created to highlight books written by authors who share the same marginalized identity as the characters in their books.

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10 thoughts on “Easy Everyday Acts of Kindness”

Lisa Nelson says:
February 6, 2013 at 5:23 am
Man, I wish I had known about this. My family certainly would have participated.
Hum? wondering if we could do 100 acts of kindness in a week?????? This is a totally awesome project!
Reply
1. Pragmatic Mom says:
  February 6, 2013 at 2:37 pm
  Hi Lisa,
  The 100 Acts of Kindness project is still going on and it’s never to late to do it. 100 Acts of Kindness in a week is definitely possible! I did 48 acts for my birthday over several weeks, but I only did 3-4 a day. Still, things like giving a compliment, picking up trash, holding the door, writing a letter or postcard can be done in bulk!
  Reply
Christina says:
February 6, 2013 at 2:31 pm
My daughters’ elementary school is promoting this throughout our community as well! Such a fantastic initiative!
Reply
1. Pragmatic Mom says:
  February 6, 2013 at 2:53 pm
  Hi Sexy Mother Foodie,
  I’m so excited that this idea of Acts of Kindness is going viral. I hope it creates permanent change. It did for me. I think differently every day about missed opportunities to do something kind.
  I’m enjoying your blog very much. I didn’t realize you were a food and wine writer … reminded me instantly of Amanda Hesser. I love her Memoir/Dating/Cookbook Cooking for Mr. Latte. Any books in the works for you?
  Reply
  1. Christina says:
    February 6, 2013 at 3:15 pm
    Thx, Pragmatic Mom!
    Our schools promote “Acts of Kindness and Justice” each year beginning with our Martin Luther King Jr. celebration.
    Have you read Gretchen Rubin’s book/blog The Happiness Project?
    http://www.happiness-project.com/
    I honestly think that this idea is related–the beginnings of a Happiness Project for elementary schoolers.
    As far as any other books in my future, I’m just trying to catch up on my reading! 🙂 Something tells me that you’ll beat me to a book proposal!
    PS Love Amanda Hesser!
    Reply
    1. Pragmatic Mom says:
      February 7, 2013 at 8:28 am
      Hi Christina,
      YES! I love The Happiness Project! I read it last year at sort of the same time as the Tiger Mom book which then forced me to do a comparison … those ladies are surprisingly similar! http://www.pragmaticmom.com/2011/08/top-5-similarities-between-the-happiness-project-gretchen-rubin-and-tiger-mom-amy-chua/
      But I actually started thinking about doing Random Acts of Kindness as a means to celebrate my birthday (gulp! 48!) from reading Toddler Approved and other mom blogs and that’s when it all clicked into place.
      I’m glad your schools are doing Acts of Kindness projects! Sounds like something I’ll suggest to our Social Action Committee. How does that work exactly?
      Reply
kristina says:
February 6, 2013 at 5:39 pm
I love these unique ways to spread kindness!! The spider idea is a great one (and one that would be hard for me!!) This challenge is such a great way to get out of our comfort zones and do something that we wouldn’t do otherwise… for me it is also a great reminder of little acts of kindness I can do in my own home that make a huge difference (even when they seem small). I am so glad you are participating in this challenge!
Reply
1. Pragmatic Mom says:
  February 7, 2013 at 8:32 am
  Hi Kristina,
  I’ve been trying to turn my own kids’ fear of spiders around … they are scared of spiders so they want to stomp on them when one gets into their rooms. I guess I am on the only spider rescuer in our house. I have to force my husband to do rescue work as well. I’m trying to reinforce the idea that spiders are GOOD (because they are!) using that picture book Be Nice to Spiders. Thanks so much for creating the 100 Acts of Kindness Campaign. It’s a wonderful idea!! I am thrilled to participate so thank you for the opportunity.
  Reply
AstroMom says:
February 10, 2013 at 12:56 am
Hi Pragmatic Mom,
I really like your blog and especially this idea for the 100 (or X # ) acts of kindness. Sadly, I stumbled on this a bit late, but as my four-year old’s birthday is in 4 days, maybe we can manage 4 kind acts by then (like your 48 by your birthday!) Anyway, I have been thinking about acts of kindness lately because, recently, I came across Shawn Achor’s very entertaining TED talk ( http://on.ted.com/Achor ) that discusses how positivity and happiness are correlated with a boost in productivity and success. Amongst exercise, meditation, and gratitude journaling, practicing random acts of kindness is a concrete way to improve your positive outlook. Along these lines, I also found out about the Greater Good project ( http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/ ) — you might be interested in this, if you aren’t already aware of them. Anyway, thanks for the post and wishing you happy thoughts!
Reply
1. Pragmatic Mom says:
  February 10, 2013 at 10:25 am
  Hi AstroMom,
  Thank you so much for sharing the TED talk and the link to the Greater Good project. You might also like The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. Her experience trying to improve her happiness “quotient” over a year is chronicled in that book. It’s a fun read and I think her conclusions are similar.
  I’m glad there is a wave of support for Acts of Kindness (random or otherwise). It’s a movement I truly can stand behind. It has definitely made me happier.
  Thank you so much for your comment!
  Reply