Project Ideas

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There are many opportunities to show kindness in life every day. Sometimes people need to be reminded to be kind. Here are some projects to help spread the message of kindness.

The "Kindness Chain" is one of the first things people see when they walk into the American school. Find out how to use this activity to motivate students to be kind.

Kindness Kids Calendars - The ThinkQuest team made calendars for each month. A kindness act was listed for each day of the week. The kindness act of the day was announced during the morning broadcast. The Kindness Kids delivered the calendars to classrooms at the beginning of each month and the calendars were posted in the classrooms as a reminder of the kindness act of the day.

Kindness Kids Calendar

October	November	December	January
February	March	April	May

Kindness Kid of the Month - Nomination forms for Kindness Kid of the Month were given to all classrooms at the beginning of the school year. Students and teachers could nominate a student who shows kindness to others. Students gave the nomination form to a team member. The team decided on the Kindness Kid of the Month and announced it during the morning broadcast on the first day of the month. The Kindness Kid of the month was given a certificate and their picture was posted on the school bulletin board.

Kindness Kid Nomination Form

Kindness Kid of the Month Certificate

Kindness Kids' Kick-Off - in October during Parent Day, Kindness Kids' Kick-Off was held to announce the 2008 ThinkQuest team and introduce the topic, kindness. The special activities for the seven-month long project were revealed and students, teachers, and parents were asked to help the ThinkQuest team spread the message of kindness.

The event started with a cheer about kindness as the "Kindness Kids" ran onto the stage. The student body was asked to join them and be "Kindness Kids", too . The team and some of their classmates performed a rap about conflict resolution. The rap was followed by a skit, "I'm Only One Person". The school counselor spoke to the school about the importance of the topic, kindness, and encouraged everyone to join together to spread kindness. He also helped by beatboxing during the raps.

Thank-A- Person ( Thank-A-Teacher, Thank-A-Grandparent, Thank-A-Friend, Thank-A-Community Helper)

At different times of the year, students wrote a special "Thanks You" notes. The notes were mailed or the author of the note surprised the person with it. This project is guaranteed to make someone's day!

Kindness is Contagious Project - Approximately 120 kids took part in the Kindness Kids project on Think.com. The project started after Thanksgiving and ended in early January. Students worked together in teams to learn about kindness and share their thoughts, ideas, and opinions about kindness. Students and teachers from other schools joined in the conversations about kindness and how it can make a difference in our world. Students were divided into groups based on their interest in music, writing, and drama.

The final projects were showcased during "Celebrate Kindness Day" when students performed their songs, skits, and commercials for the student body, parents, and guests. Students published a kindness newspaper that was given to everyone who came to the celebration. The Kindness Kids' performed the "Let's Get Started Rap" and the cheer. The 3rd and 4th grade sang "Break Away" to end the celebration.

Student projects can be found on the Kindness Kids' Favorites page

Boxes to Iraq - The Kindness Kids spent one Saturday helping a local church pack boxes for soldiers in Iraq. The boxes were packed in October, but would arrive in time for Christmas. The boxes were filled with snacks, DVD's, and personal care items. The soldiers sent a "Thank You" note for the boxes.

Jessie's Place - Coat and Toy Drive - A local homeless shelter needed help. They needed coats and small toys for the children and mothers who came there for shelter.The team announced to classes that we would collect small toys and coats during the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Thirteen boxes of coats and small toys and stuffed animals were collected. We took them to Jessie's Place. They were very grateful for our help and sent us a nice thank you note.

Color Our School with Kindness Chain - a chain of kindness acts

A very kind school volunteer cut out hundreds of strips of colored paper that we gave to all classes. When someone is kind to another student, the student or teacher writes the person's name and the kindness act on the colored strip of paper. Kids turn the strips in each day and the chain is formed by connecting each strip. The chain is hanging where everyone can see it and students add to it as kindness spreads throughout the school. We are going to continue to add to the chain and see if it will reach around the school. It is symbolic of how kindness is spreading through our school.

Searching for Kindness - We cut out medium size hearts which we hid around the school. When someone finds a heart , they are to do something kind. Then, they write the kindness act on the heart and put it in the kindness box. We post the hearts on the bulletin board and will see how many hearts the school can collect during a school year. We will continue the project until May when school is out.

Kindness Kids Posters - We had a kindness poster contest for our school. The students who entered the contest drew pictures that represented kindness..

Can you think of a great kindness project for your school?

About Us • Project Ideas • Kindness Kids' Favorites • Teachers & Parents

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References

How kindness can impact a school (T. Bamberg, personal interview, October, 2008).

Respect and pride in a school (B. Lowe, personal interview, October, 2008).

Credits

"Pride" drawing by Tia, 2008.

"Help Others" drawing by Danielle, 2008.

Writing by Amy, 2008.

Content including images, songs, skits, games, poems, and videos are the original work of students and were created for the
2008 International ThinkQuest competition.