Create a “Kindness Tree”

Jul 23, 201830 min activity

Show your child how kindness grows by creating a “Kindness Tree” to hang on the wall. This paper tree creates a visual reminder of the ways your child is kind every day.

Start a conversation about kindness. Ask your child to think of ways that we can be kind to others. For example, “What do you say to make your sister feel better when she's sad?” or, “How did you help Grandpa when we visited him last week?”

In the video Dear Mr. Ratburn, Arthur and his friends create a poster and sing a song to show their teacher how much they appreciate him. How was this showing kindness? What are some other ways that we can show kindness to our friends and people in our community?

Create a paper kindness tree to help your child see all the ways — big and small — that they are kind to others.

Materials

Colorful sheets of paper
Scissors
Tape
Pen, pencil, markers or crayons

Directions

Help your child trace or draw leaves and flowers on colorful sheets of paper and cut them out. Make sure the leaves and flowers are big enough to write a few words or a sentence.

Cut out a tree trunk shape and branches and tape them to a wall.

Explain to your child that the Kindness Tree will “bloom” whenever they do something kind for someone else. The act of kindness can be something small like helping a sibling tie their shoes or something bigger like writing a song or poem for their teacher. Each day, ask your child to share ways that they have been kind or helpful to a friend or family member — or ways that a friend or family member has been kind to them!

For each act of kindness, write a note on a paper leaf or flower or encourage your child to make drawings to illustrate the experience. Let your child add it to the tree, and watch the Kindness Tree bloom with color!