Kindness is powerful. It’s also contagious. According to science, kindness doubles when you share it. See how even a daily dose of a tiny bit of kindness can change so much.
So, kindness: Science supports it, and the world needs it. And you’re likely already trying to encourage empathy, inclusion, and acceptance in your classroom. Ready for some kindness lesson ideas that might help? Here are five free kindness activities for the classroom.
Kindness Lessons for Middle School Students
1. Send kindness postcards
All it takes to uplift someone is a few kind words. Invite your class to write short, encouraging messages to each other. Level this activity up by inviting them to write notes of appreciation to school staff that you could distribute during appreciation weeks or any time of the year.
2. Take gratitude brain breaks
Brain breaks are a super way to get your students refocused. Reset their stressed-out brains by engaging them to think about the things they are grateful for or, even better, the things their classmates do that they are grateful for.
3. Make it rain kindness cards
Encourage your students to anonymously write uplifting messages and inspirational quotes on sticky notes and leave “kindness cards” all around the classroom, school, or even their neighborhood.
4. Play kindness bingo
Help your students see how small acts can have a big impact with a game of kindness bingo. Make sure all the squares have actions that seem small but have a big impact like making someone laugh, saying “thank you”, or smiling at someone.
5. Read books that celebrate kindness
Reading books can help demonstrate kindness to students. Senior Vice President of Efficacy & Consulting Research at HMH, Francie Alexander, shares in an article: “For older students, Nick, the protagonist in Kwame Alexander's latest title, Booked, stands up to a bully and recognizes the power of words because there's a supportive librarian who provides him with books as an act of kindness.”
***
This article was adapted from a blog post initially developed by the education technology company Classcraft, which was acquired by HMH in 2023. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of HMH.
