If you ask my kids they’ll tell you that we do acts of kindness in our family.
We love sushi. And board games. And dance parties. And kindness.
A couple of years ago made the decision to do intentional acts of kindness on a regular basis and the results have been better than I could have imagined. We’ve done big things like hosting a food drive play date and adopting a child from a giving tree for Christmas, but most of the time our kindness acts are simple like this kindness jar craft.
We were inspired to create a kindness jar after receiving the book Jillee Bean and the One Good Thing by Jill Nystul and Samantha Hollister. In the story Jillee is inspired by her dad to do good deeds for others. She records her acts by putting jelly beans in a jar.
The kids loved the story and we decided to come up with a kindness jar of our own! Instead of using a jar to record our kindness acts we decided to use it to inspire someone else to do a good deed too.
Kindness Jar for Kids
- plastic or glass jar
- art supplies
- candy, stickers, etc
- Kindness Jar Printable Tags
My kids fell in love with DohVinci at a recent blogger event and have been creating with it non-stop. They used it to decorate our jar and the bright colored, 3-D effect is so cheery. You can use anything you want to decorate your jar with though. Paint, glass markers, stickers, or ribbon would all be fun choices.
Decide who you are going to give your kindness jar to and fill it with something they would love. We decided that our recipient would love some chocolate kisses (who wouldn’t?) so used those, but anything that would fit inside will work.
Then tie the free printable kindness jar tag to the top of the jar. The saying on the tag explains that they should pass it on to someone else too.
We hope this jar of kindness makes you smile! And that you will then go the extra mile.. We want to spread the joy around, So fill this jar for someone you’ve found!Download the free kindness jar tags here–> KINDNESS JAR PRINTABLE TAGS
Then give your kindness jar to someone you know! It feels so good to do something nice for someone else.
Books can be a great tool to use to get kids excited about doing good deeds. The folks at Jillee Bean and the One Good Thing want to spread the word about kindness and are going to giveaway a copy of their book to one lucky Coffee Cups and Crayons reader!
How to Enter–> Leave a comment on this post letting us know an act of kindness you have done or will do this week!
Make sure to enter in your email address in the email section when you leave the comment so we can contact you if you win. Giveaway ends at midnight EST on September 30th, 2014. Good luck!
WE HAVE A WINNER! I’d still love to hear about any acts of kindness you are doing in the comments!
Disclosure: I received a review copy of Jillee Bean and the One Good Thing and one to giveaway, but they in no way sponsored this post. All opinions and thoughts are my own. See my disclosure page for more information about giveaways.
Love this idea! We’ve decided to make ‘batter’ jars for our neighbors. One of the jars will include all of the dry ingredients for cookies and a recipe, and the other recipe will be Russian tea.
That is lovely!!! What a great idea for the holidays too!
I spent most of Saturday helping a friend help a friend. Her elderly friend is having to move cross country to live with her son due to medical issues. She can’t take all of her possessions with her so we organized a sale and spent the day trying to sell her things and make some money to help pay for her trip.
This book is so sweet. I intend to get it for my grandsons for Christmas (have 3 families with little boys so a free book would be helpful).
Thank you for the opportunity to win the book.
God bless,
toni
Toni that is just wonderful!!!
Love this idea! I’m going to have my students make kindness jars for the food pantry at the church to give out to the needy. I also encourage my students to do kind acts daily and let them see it in turn. This past weekend I came up to the school and cleaned the fish tank of the 1st grade class, just because it needed it and the teacher is going through a lot right now caring for her sick mother. Kindness spreads and we are encouraging this at our school this year!
Jill!!! I love all of that! I think we may make some for the food pantry now too. Thanks for the inspiration!
I’m crocheting a scarf for my sister in her favorite color as well as making a winter headband in Ravens color as a pay it forward gift … Love doing things like this its so rewarding
Lovely! It is making my day hearing all of these stories!!!
love paying it forward ideas! This week I have taken pics for my neighbor who doesn’t have the funds and today I made homemade pumpkin spice soap to give my dear friend who’s brother is in bad shape from cancer.
You are so sweet! I bet they appreciate it so much!
My Day Care as a group had a bake sale for Relay for Life we earned $812.00 for a local man who has Cancer. We also do a Kindness board where they do something kind for someone and write it down (Me) they are only 1 to 4 in age.But they love it and the community likes us to come to the store, Library because the kinds are so kind.
Lolly Wahl
Lolly! I adore the idea of a kindness board!!!!! How wonderful you all are!
the link for the tags is not working 🙁
Oh no! Do you have Adobe installed on your computer? It’s a PDF so if not it may not work. Try that and if it doesn’t work or you can’t download adobe let me know and I’ll email them to you!
We tried to do a good deed… Kiddo and I had stopped at a fast food place to grab a quick dinner, and on the patio was a couple of gals and their service dog. All 3 had already eaten, and it was a pretty warm day but we didn’t see any water for the dog so we want back to our truck and I got one of the collapsible/portable dog water bowl that I have to give to them. Although they were very thankful, they didn’t want it (they already had one, and a much better one than I had offered).
Turns out they were the ones doing the good deed. They were homeless and didn’t take offense when my daughter started asking questions, “are you spending the night at a friend’s house?” and “oh! Are you going camping?” Told me, “don’t worry about it.” and to kiddo, “Yes, something like that.” They had a couple of sleeping bags, and probably most of the rest of their belongings with them. They told her about their dog, his name, what he does. Thanked me again for offering the bowl for Bear, and (I think) were very happy to talk to someone who were nice and took about 15 minutes out of their day for them.
Love this idea! As a class we have been looking at being safe and showing how we care. This will be a lovely activity to finish off what we have already done. Would be great to create a jar, where the children recognise the acts of kindness. Once our jar is full we will pass it on…to another class maybe..or to another school 🙂
Ooooooooh! I LOVE the idea of passing from class to class!!!! How wonderful!!!
Megan, you continue to inspire me to do more! Lately, I have been trying to help my friend out with her kids to give her mini- breaks since her husband travels a lot.
Oh Meredith that is worth it’s weight in gold to me some days! How kind!!!!
An ongoing service project my family and I are working on is collecting Pop Tops from Soda Cans to donate to The Ronald McDonald House for their fundraiser.
That’s wonderful! The simple acts like that can make a big difference!
I really enjoy doing things for others because selfishly I believe I get more joy from it. However, the BEST is to do an act of kindness for someone and not tell anyone what you did. Sometimes this can be a spur of the moment or planned but it’s really an immensely enjoyable experience.
My kids LOVE to do it anonymously too Sue! Such fun!
Hi
Love this idea
I will take peanut butter bars to my oncologist and infusion nurses
Cheers
Cathy
Oh fantastic! What a sweet idea!
I plan on volunteering at our local animal rescue this weekend. I will be a handler at the adoption event and help out the day before at their bakesale. I will be bringing bake goods and working the stand for a few hours. I love being a handler for a homeless pup. I really see their anxiousness to please the people who come to see them. Pure love!
Oh Joanne! That’s wonderful! I hope it’s a huge success!
Megan, I’m so inspired by you and your kindness ideas. My girls have a running tally of how they are kind, which we post on the fridge. They often ask me to read it to them, and I love how it’s a constant reminder of all the good they can do for others. Let’s see, this we’re taking a care package to friends who are moving.
I love that!!!! We may have to steal the tally idea from you!
I love this idea. My kids have been very “I want this and I want that” lately. I think reading this book and having them each make a jar (and understanding WHY they’re making a jar) would be a great way to begin doing good deeds together. I will put some thought into this because I don’t want it to be just a one-time thing. Thank you for the inspiration.
Terrie we’ve found that focusing on doing an act of kindness together each week to be so helpful with that!
We have the opportunity this weekend to open our house to a group of friends and their families from out of state. My son and I have already been talking a lot about how we’re going to give up some of our favorite things to make them the most comfortable. We are excited to treat them with lots of kindness throughout the weekend!
Lovely!!!! I hope you have a wonderful visit!
Great idea! I am trying to teach my grandchildren to give back. We are currently working on boxes for Operation Christmas Child.
So fun!!! That’s a great way to teach kids to give!
We’ve been sharing garden fresh tomatoes and cucumbers with neighbors for the past month. 🙂
YUM! That is a great act of kindness–for your neighbors and the earth! 🙂
We are focusing on acts of kindness in my classroom and have seen some of the students taking ownership of the reporting as it becomes the custom and a habit instead of a forced response. Some recent examples have been donating food to the Kosher Food Pantry on Yom Kippur when many people fast, being book buddies with younger classes and sitting with the kindergarten students during lunch to help out. While the students can also earn individual stickers in the class for helping others we have found that many of those behaviors become habits and I love not having to stack chairs or sharpen mounds of pencils everyday. Thank you for this great idea and a good book to,read to my class.
Helen that is wonderful!!!! Your class sounds lovely, I love to hear how kindness has become a habit!
I always let each kiddo pick something out for the food bank when we are at the store as a simple act of kindness. This kindness jar would be a great idea to send along when we make a meal for a friend who is due to have a baby any day now. I love books as a way of teaching these lessons without getting preaching. If I don’t win this copy, I’ll have to look into getting it myself! Thanks for the inspiration.
Ellen I totally agree! The simple everyday things really make a big impact. What a fun idea to take to a new mom!
would love to win this!! my girls have been making cards for family members who are having a tough time lately, but this would be an awesome way to show them there are other nice things to do!
That is fantastic! Simple things like cards really do mean a lot!
Hi Nicole! Great news! You won the book! Emailing you now!
My nanny’s son was having surgery this week and would have to take it easy for a week during recovery, so we went to the store and my 3 year old son picked out a game (spot it) that he would be able to play without moving and then came home and made an awesome card for him–involving a glitter monster. I wish I could include a pic here. It was so cute. My son and I also went through his toys and selected enough to fill a box to send to another family that has a lot of children and not much cash for toys. I have been on the lookout for books like this one!
That is awesome!!!! I bet he loved it!!!
I plan to make a jar and give to a co worker at the hospital where I work
Yay! That’s fantastic Keena!
I love doing little acts of kindness. Every year I have my third graders do some kind acts for other students at our school. I love the idea of filling a kindness jar, then passing it on to another class.
My favorite thing to do is to pay for the car behind me when I go for takeout. Gives me such a nice feeling and is anonymous.
That’s so fun isn’t it Joan? We love anonymous acts of kindness too!
That is so sweet Ingrid!!! Thanks for sharing!
I was out with my daughter today and instead of being in a huge rush like so many people are these days, I took the time and waited to let others walk in front of me. It wasn’t a big deal to me, I like to help others but I know it meant something to others.
I bet is was appreciated!!!
I’m pinning this idea to do soon. Love it! I am driving before middle school choir carpool all year for a woman who still has small children at home.
Awwwww! That is awesome!
What a great idea! I like to send quick little text messages telling people how awesome they are! Easy but great impact.
So true!!!
What a great idea. I’m going to incorporate something similar in our home, I’m always on the hunt for ideas to encourage kindness, respect and overall positivity. Thanks so much.
Love this idea, need to read the book now! My kids want to take donuts to their cousins this week.
Ooooh! FUN!
My kiddos made their teachers thank you cards this week and invited a sad friend to play during school. We love kindness, too 😉
Yay!!!! That’s fantastic!
How lovely of both of you!
Making jars ASAP! Dying to read this book with my boys!!!
Yay!!!! You will love the book!
Every year the schools do a 100th day of school celebration, where kids bring in a collection of 100 things. My daughter and I came up with 100 acts of kindness so for a couple of months we would write down all of the acts of kindness she did and put them on two big poster boards. It was super fun, but also taught my daughter that kindness is an act we choose to do!
OMG! I love that so much!!!
What an absolutely lovely idea! I’m going to make one with my son, he’s only 4 but loves to be helpful and I hope it will be a great way to encourage him to continue to be kind and considerate as he gets older.
Awesome!!!!
I’m a crafter and I have my own small business and when it seems no one wants my products I start to feel a little down. That sparked the idea for random gifts of kindness or #RGoK. I make a gift and send it to a friend or one of hubby’s co-workers. I pay attention to the ones who are having a bad week or just aren’t feeling themselves. I’d like to think that the random gift can maybe help brighten their day just a little.
I LOVE that idea!!!
Megan,
I am so loving your ideas!! I rarely comment but commenting twice on the same day same blog totally a first for me!! Maybe this will help undo some damage! REALLY THANKFUL I found your blog. See comment from Tub Sight Word post.
I think this could be a beautiful thing for my family in November! Best way to show gratitude is by serving! Thank you!
I love this idea! I printed out the summer calendar of RAKs for kids. I clicked on the link for the printables, but it didn’t work.( I do have Adobe so I’m not sure why) Could you please email them to me?
Thanks for all you do!!!
That printable is actually a word doc. I’ll upload it as a PDF this afternoon for you!
Here is a project my students and I did about kindness. www(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=RVnoHV_Id9k
HI! I love this idea and cannot wait to do it with my service project class with my homeschool co-op. I clicked on the printable tag and it sent me to a page that was broken. Anyway you could send it to me?
Hi Holly!
It won’t take you to a new page. When you click on the link it will download the Word doc to your computer, do you maybe not have access to Microsoft Word?