You’ve taught your little ones their ABC’s, their 123’s and so many important life skills. One more lesson we all want our kids to learn: kindness. October is National Bullying Prevention Month, which is why we’ve teamed up with Google’s Be Internet Awesome program to share how you can help your kids learn that it’s cool to be kind on the web and in the real world! Read on for five easy ways to teach your kids the power of kindness this month.
Get Crafty
A big part of kindness is being appreciative of others, and letting them know through words and actions. Help your kids learn about appreciating others by breaking out the craft supplies and creating homemade thank you cards! Ask them who they want to make a thank you card for and why they want to thank that person to help them put extra thought behind their kind actions.
Be Internet Awesome
So much of our kid's communication is digital, which is why it's critical for kids to learn about being kind and positive online! Be Internet Awesome is Google's free program that helps teach kids to be positive digital citizens and how to be safer and smarter online. The program includes a fun web game, Interland, guides and tips for families and a curriculum for teachers. Kick off conversations about kindness at home with a little fun by diving into Interland’s Kind Kingdom game that focuses on kindness!
Read All About It
Reading is a great way for kids (and adults!) to expand their worldview, put themselves in other people's shoes and learn life lessons. We've rounded up a few of our favorite books that focus on bullying and bullying prevention here, with options from kids picture books to chapter books for more advanced readers. For kids who are reading on their own, set aside some time to talk about the book—asking if they learned anything or what they would do in the situations the characters encounter!
Create a Kindness Chain
Kindness doesn't have to be a big gesture, it's all about the small thoughtful moments! For National Bullying Prevention Month, Google's Be Internet Awesome program is encouraging families to come together to create a paper kindness chain. Cut paper into strips, write a kind action for on or offline on each one and staple each piece of paper end-to-end to make a chain. Each day, remove a link from the chain and challenge your family to complete that act of kindness! Stuck on ideas? We've got 95 random acts of kindness to get your creative juices flowing!
Give Back
Giving back to others helps kids learn to think of people outside of their family and close friends! There are tons of family-friendly volunteer activities you can do without even leaving the house, including donating used toys or making no-sew dog toys for your local animal shelter.
Be Internet Awesome is a free resource that gives families the tools they need to build safer and healthier online habits. Learn more about Be Internet Awesome here!
