30 Days of Kindness Challenge (Week 2 of 5): Kindness to Our Community

Welcome to Week 2 of the Your Vibrant Family 30 Day Random Acts of Kindness Challenge!

This week's challenge is about showing kindness to our community. We'll explore some simple ways we can show our community kindness (with kindness activities, family discussion questions, Bible verses, and more).

Join us and let's spread kindness to those in our community!

Just joining us? Awesome!  Go here for more info about the Your Vibrant Family 30 Day Kindness Challenge!

Go here for the Week 1 30 Day Kindness Challenge post (Kindness to Family).

Our Week 1 Kindness Challenge Results

How did last week go for you? What did you and your family learn about the effects of small acts of kindness in the family?

Over and over, I watched my kids be changed by their choice to be kind. 

There were comments like this one from my 11-year-old: “Mom, I really loved your message for me on the ‘Kind Pages.'”

And from my 13-year old: “This was this first time I really understood how good it feels to give and get kindness.” Huge stuff for him!

We had some incredible conversations around kindness (love it when the Holy Spirit takes over and we end up dissecting a verse in ways I never expected).

Week 1 Kindness Jar Results

We used the kindness jar a little differently than we'd planned.

Every day the kids started with all the beans in one jar. If someone was unkind, we moved a bean to the other “unkind” jar. They then had to work as a team to do a kind act to get the bean back into the “kind” jar again before they could have free time.

This worked like a charm.

If someone was unkind and I had to move a bean to the “unkind” jar, I was touched at how quickly they worked together to get that naughty little bean back in the right jar.

They did everything from sharing pencils, to helping each other with chores, to just offering unusual amounts of grace to someone that was having a bad day.

And one day (after a day of lots of naughty little beans), I came home to find this:

(COLLAGE OF PHOTOS OF WHAT THEY DID THAT DAY)

Yep, they'd completely cleaned up the house. Without any prompting from me. And they worked together to do it!

To me, that's real kindness in action. It’s kindness being integrated into the everyday trials and annoyances that just happen in families.

This is what I’m praying carries over to this week! And beyond!

Week 2: February 8-14

Kindness to Our Community

Kindness Goal for the Week: 

To continue talking about kindness and why it’s important; to discover how we can unite with other family members and friends to show kindness to our immediate community; to continue to experience how good it feels to both get and give kindness (“honey”); to continue to build habits of kindness in our everyday family interactions.

Family Discussion Time About Kindness:

• Explain the 30 Days to Kindness Challenge and some of the ways you may be participating this month.
• If there has been some hurt and resentment between family members, you may want to offer an opportunity for anyone to apologize for past actions (sometimes this is easier if the parents lead the way by apologizing for a recent action or attitude).
• Ask each other—how can I be more kind to you with my words, tone and body language (again, parents lead this and listen)? 

Suggested Kindness Activities: 

Remember, these are just suggestions. Check out the 67 Awesome Random Acts of Kindness Ideas for Kids post for more ideas.

Activity #1: Hand out flowers to strangers (such as in front of a grocery store).

Step 1: Purchase flowers or trim some from your garden.

            Step 2: Trim a 12 x 12 piece of cardstock into small notecards and have the kids write simple messages on them (brainstorm a few ideas with the kids such as “You are special,” “You are appreciated,” “Have a wonderful day,” “God loves you,” etc).

Step 3: Gather your supplies: flowers, scissors, hole punch and wrapping paper ribbon.

Step 4: Once the notecards are written, hole punch the top left corner of the notecard and string a piece of the ribbon through it. Wrap it around the stem twice and tie a knot. 

Step 5: Gather each person’s flowers/cards into the leftover plastic sack that the flowers were packaged in (Note: Plan ahead and get one sack per person when you’re grabbing the flowers). If you’ve gathered flowers from home, a rolled up piece of newspaper would also work nicely.

               Step 6: If you are a Christian, pray over each flower, asking God to bring people that really need an acts of kindness or encouraging word today.

               Step 7: Hand out the flowers! (Note: If you choose to hand them out in a privately owned location such as a grocery store, be sure to ask permission from the store management.)

Activity #2: Write a letter (or draw a picture) for your local police, firefighter or military personnel and hand-deliver it. 

Check out these awesome free printables from Seusstastic Classroom Inspirations.  They are perfect for this activity!

You could also include cookies or other treats if you’d like.

Activity #3: Prepare and deliver meals to those in your community that are home-bound, dealing with ongoing illness or tragedy, or just need to know that they are loved.

Churches, local food pantries or perhaps even assisted living facilities may be able to link you up with those in need.

We are working with a group of homeschool families to provide meals for a local homeless soup kitchen for the evening (the kids are making the food!).

Or, who wouldn't like a whole bunch of freezer meals made for them? Freezer meals are especially appreciated by moms about to give birth or those anticipating an upcoming surgery or other difficult life situation. Here's a post I did on how to make up several freezer meals in bulk.

Activity #4: Kindness Jar

This is the same activity we started last week. Let's continue to build the habit of kindness to our family members!

Kindness Write, Discuss or Draw Topics

• What were your favorite “moments of kindness” from last week?

• Explain how it made you feel to receive kindness. How did the kindness you got from others brighten your day, improve your attitude or reshape how you handled a difficult situation?

• Share how it make you feel to give kindness. If it felt good to give kindness, was this surprising? If so, how? Did it make you want to give more kindness?

• What are some ways that God calls us to be kind in our community?

• Why do you think it’s especially important for Christians to show kindness to our community?

Kindness Bible Verses to Write, Discuss or Draw

Of course these aren’t the only ones on this topic. These are just the ones we’re going to talk through this week—one for each day of the school week. All references are in the NLT.

Titus 3:1: Remind the believers to submit to the government and its officers. They should be obedient, always ready to do what is good. They must not slander anyone and must avoid quarreling. Instead, they should be gentle and show true humility to everyone.

1 Kings 3:9: (can be a prayer for our government leaders): Give me an understanding heart so that I can govern your people well and know the difference between right and wrong. For who by himself is able to govern this great people of yours?

James 1:27: Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.

Deuteronomy 24:19: When you are harvesting your crops and forget to bring in a bundle of grain from your field, don’t go back to get it. Leave it for the foreigners, orphans, and widows. Then the Lord your God will bless you in all you do.

Psalm 68:5: Father to the fatherless, defender of widows— this is God, whose dwelling is holy.

This Week’s Kindness Resources

Disclaimer: My family and may or may not have personally used all of these resources.

I have these and other “kindness project” resources on this Pinterest board.

NEW POST: 67 Awesome Random Acts of Kindness Ideas for Kids by Your Vibrant Family

25 Ways to Encourage by Pickle Bums

Ideas to Help Families That Really Need It by Rants from Mommyland

Recipe List by Take Them A Meal

“Survival Kit for Police” by Gifts U Can Make

More Blank Thank You Letters for Firefighters, Police Officers and Soldiers from Erica's Ed-Ventures

Tell Us About Your Kindness Acts!

• Invite Others. Share this post on your own FB page, Twitter feed, Pinterest page (or whatever social media you enjoy) and invite others to join us! Don’t forget to use the hashtag #YVF30DayKindnessChallenge!

• Share Ideas! If you have other kindness ideas, resources or Bible verses that can encourage others, please share them in the comments below!

I can’t wait to see all the beauty that will come from a deliberate focus on kindness to our community! I look forward to hearing your stories this week!