5 SELF Kindness Activities for students in your Elementary classroom

Kindness Week, kindness day or kindness month – these self kindness activities are sure to enhance your classroom acts of kindness!

Kindness is a character trait and acts of kindness in school with either a kindness club or just a classroom help promote school wide kindness.

Back to school is a great time to start a kindness challenge or random acts of classroom kindness. To help you get started grab this Kindness Commission Pack – full of kindness activities for kids (all school related groups) and printables to keep track all year long!

Each month you can focus on a new group of individuals to create school wide kindness and extend classroom kindness activities beyond your 4 walls!

The Kindness commission acts like a Kindness club (but secret agent style) not getting credit for kindness activities but using kindness activities to promote school wide kindness.

Why are kindness activities so important for students in your classroom?

A simple random act of kindness in the classroom has such long reaching impact! Kindness stimulates so many great brain chemicals and truly makes us happier!

These classroom kindness activities go both ways. The person experiencing the random act of kindness gets a mood boost as well as the person doing the kindness activity.

Kindness day or week activities can lead to a domino effect and even the smallest act of kindness with students can cause so many ripples.

Each Kindness is a great book to illustrate this as a kindness read aloud.

Act of Kindness Activities focused on YOURSELF

When you think of spreading kindness you may not always think of yourself, BUT treating yourself with kindness is essential to helping and thinking of others.

Teaching elementary kindness activities is absolutely essential! When we know to look for kindness all around us we quickly see and can do acts of kindness for those in our classroom and school.

Act of Self Kindness: Positive Self Talk

Practice this kindness activity with students. Model positive self talk. Give yourself a compliment – preferably about something not appearance related.

“You brain is outstanding” “your creativity shined in that art project.” “your hard work paid off”

You can write on sticky notes and even stick on the mirror if you choose.

Act of Self Kindness: Self-Compassion Brainstorm

Have students brainstorm ideas they can separately and choose what they think would help them the best!

This list from Mindful Schools can help you get started on empowering students through self-compassion.

Self-Compassion in the classroom activities

How can you use times of rest in your classroom and at home

1. Get enough sleep and go to bed without screens
2. Have a screen free day entirely and notice what impact is has on your outlook
3. Find time for something enjoyable

Most often adults can find time for self care but self kindness can be taught to kids and learned behavior as how your body reacts to different stimuli and what your “normal” is and how it feels.

Self-compassion in the classroom is important to look at how rest can be used to promote a healthy well being. This doesn’t always look like downtime but actually dedicated time to recharge, gain new ideas and change your outlook. Like a “reset” button for the day!

Use this FREE Kindness Tracker fill up your self kindness activities!