Kindness for the Summer

It’s summer….a time for outdoor fun, family vacations and summer reading. It’s also a good time for putting some new kindness ideas into action. While our children are at home, in camp or special summer programs they probably have some free time when they can learn the value of doing favors for others. It doesn’t have to be a big thing; small or large it’s the kind actions that matter.

How about setting up a lemonade stand and donating the profits to a local food share? Or making crafts with seniors at the local retirement center? Making a new friend and sharing a special snack is always a fun summer experience when you travel. Middle schoolers can pack up books that may be too young for them now and deliver them to a family resource center, or read them to younger neighborhood children. How about teaching a younger child to play baseball or fly a kite, too? Many High School students want to change the world so why not direct that energy into a kindness brigade that fixes broken bikes, mows lawns or adopts school yards to clean?

Learning that each of us can make a difference by doing one kind act at a time is a great lesson anytime. But the fine summer weather, a slower pace and some unstructured time gives children a perfect opportunity to engage in random acts of kindness. The experience of offering a hand, doing a good deed, and feeling the reward of someone else’s smile, gratitude and happiness will ensure the kind acts continue. It might also make those cheerful summer days last longer.

On our way to making a kinder world, let’s encourage our children to start doing kind acts in their own communities.

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