10 Activities for Teaching Kindness to Children and Kids

When we consider the moral values we want to develop in children, kindness is one of the most valuable traits they can learn. Kindness shapes our interactions with others and with ourselves and leads to understanding other moral values like empathy, compassion, selflessness, and love.

Teaching kids to be kind helps build strong relationships, and boosts emotional well-being, and self-confidence. In a world where differences and challenges can create division, instilling kindness from an early age encourages respect and understanding.

By training kids to practice kindness in everyday life, we help them grow into caring, responsible individuals who contribute positively to their communities. This blog post explores ways to nurture kindness in children and ways to practice this in everyday life.

In this blog post:

Ideas for teaching children about kindness
Bible teaching and examples of kindness to teach children
Charlotte Mason’s perspective on kindness
10 activities to teach kids about kindness
Studies to develop moral values from Treehouse Schoolhouse

Ideas for teaching children about kindness

Teaching kindness to children begins with modeling it daily, as they learn best through example. Parents can demonstrate kindness through their words, actions, and responses to others, showing empathy, patience, and generosity. Encouraging children to practice small acts of kindness—such as sharing, helping, and speaking kindly—helps build habits of compassion. Additionally, praising and reinforcing kind behavior helps children see its value. By consistently guiding children to think of others and act with kindness, we nurture their hearts and shape their character for a lifetime.

How to model kindness for children

The most important way to teach kindness to children is to model it. Children intake so much information from how we behave in our lives – towards ourselves, towards our children, and towards others.

As adults, we can practice speaking gently, showing patience, and treating others with respect, so children can observe and internalize these behaviors. We can perform acts of kindness, like offering encouragement, showing gratitude, helping those in need, and forgiving mistakes. We can also model kindness by actively listening, expressing empathy, and handling conflicts with grace. When children see adults treating family members, strangers, and even those who are difficult with kindness, they learn that kindness is not just a choice but a way of life. By living out these values, adults create an environment where kindness is natural and expected.

How to talk about kindness with children

Create an open dialogue about kindness in your family. Start by asking open-ended questions like these to encourage reflection:

What does kindness mean to you?
How do you feel when someone is kind to you?
What was something kind someone did to you recently?

Use real-life examples and stories to explain what kindness looks like in action. Take time to pause and highlight moments when a child has been kind and discuss how their actions made others feel. Encourage them to think about different ways they can show kindness, even in small ways, such as sharing, using kind words, or helping someone in need. Role-playing different situations can also help children practice responding with kindness. Develop this skill in children by reinforcing that kindness is a choice we make every day, and it has the power to lift others up, brighten someone’s day, and make the world a better place.

Explaining the difference between being nice and being kind

Another aspect of kindness to teach children about is the difference between being nice and kind. Being nice and being kind might seem the same, but they are a little different. Being nice means using polite words and being friendly, like saying “please” and “thank you” or smiling at others. But kindness goes deeper — it means caring about people and wanting to help them, even when it’s not easy.

Bible teaching and examples of kindness to teach children

The Bible is full of examples of kindness that are powerful lessons for believers of Christianity. Jesus illustrates kindness in the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37), where the Samaritan helps a wounded man despite cultural and societal divisions. Ruth demonstrates loyalty and care for her mother-in-law, Naomi, as she selflessly chooses to stay with her and provide for her (Ruth 1:16-17). In His ministry, Jesus was routinely healing the sick, feeding the hungry, showing grace to sinners, and displaying forgiveness to others. These examples reflect the Biblical teaching that kindness expresses love, humility, and a heart aligned with God’s character.

Many Scriptures explain the Biblical view on kindness. These are also great choices for memory verses or copywork for children.

Ephesians 4:32 – Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
Colossians 3:12-14 – Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
Proverbs 31:26 – She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 – Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
1 Peter 3:9 – Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.

Charlotte Mason’s perspective on kindness

Charlotte Mason emphasized the importance of kindness as a fundamental virtue in both character development and relationships. She writes: “The office of Kindness is simply to make everyday life pleasant and comfortable to others.” She believed children should be taught to practice kindness as a daily habit instead of an occasional act.

Kindness is cultivated through intentional training and the power of habit—small, consistent actions that shape a child’s moral compass. Charlotte Mason encouraged parents and teachers to model kindness in their own behavior, reinforcing the idea that children learn best by example.

Charlotte Mason also taught that kindness is deeply connected to developing empathy and consideration for others. She believed education should nurture a child’s heart as much as their intellect, helping them recognize the needs and feelings of those around them. She encouraged children to step into the lives of others through literature, fostering compassion. She saw books as powerful tools for shaping character, allowing children to learn about kindness through stories that highlight virtues like generosity, forgiveness, and understanding.

Charlotte Mason’s views on kindness emphasize that kindness should extend beyond immediate family and friends to include strangers, animals, and even those who may seem undeserving. She taught that true kindness is not based on reciprocity but is instead an expression of goodwill toward all. In her philosophy, a well-educated child is one who not only excels academically but also possesses a generous spirit and a sense of responsibility toward others.

Related: Take the Homeschool Style Quiz

10 activities to teach children about kindness

Read books about kindness – Nurture kindness with books that make the idea plain and simple.
1. Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson
2. The Invisible Boy by Trudy Ludwig
3. Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Peña
4. We Don’t Eat Our Classmates by Ryan T. Higgins
5. How Kind by Mary Murphy
6. Kindness Makes Us Strong by Sophie Beer
7. The Berenstain Bears: Kindness Counts by Jan Berenstain and Mike Berenstain
8. The Kindness Quilt by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace
Write thank you notes – Teach gratitude and take the time to write thank you notes to others after birthdays, holidays, or just for fun. Taking a moment to pause and thank others lets them know they are appreciated and helps children reflect on kindness shown to them. Older kids can also practice their typing and computer skills by sending thank you notes via email.
Create a “kindness jar” – Collaborate with your children and write out a list of ways to show kindness to others. Write each idea on a small slip of paper, and put the paper slips in a jar. Routinely take out an idea to see how to add kind deeds to your daily lives.
Volunteering and acts of service – Look for ways to serve others in your church or community by volunteering your time.
Visiting the elderly – Teach children about being kind to others by visiting a friend or relative who is elderly. This is an amazing way to give your time and attention to others in a meaningful way.
Talk about kindness in stories – Recount events in your children’s lives or in stories you read together and talk abouthow kindness is displayed. Talk about how it feels when someone is kind to you, and when you are kind to others.
Role-play kindness – Talk with your children about ways they can show kindness. Let them role-play ways to practice kindness with others.
Smiling challenge – Talk with your children about the power of smiling and how this is an easy way to show kindness to strangers in public. Challenge them to smile and make eye contact with others when you are out in public and talk about the results.
Kindness paper chain – Acknowledge and validate acts of kindness by creating a paper chain to show how kind deeds can grow. Write down ideas for acts of kindness and add a link to a paper chain each time your children do a kind deed.
Develop kindness between siblings – Highlight ways siblings can demonstrate kindness towards each other. Enlist children to help each other with chores, create a photo album of special memories together, give one another compliments, or write a poem to each other. Not only will they practice kind behavior, but they will create a deeper connection and sibling bond.

Studies to develop moral values from Treehouse Schoolhouse

If you are looking for ways to talk about moral values in your home or in your homeschool, consider these studies from Treehouse Schoolhouse. These studies draw from Scripture, classical art, poetry, and more to explore values like kindness, empathy, God’s love, and more.

A Virtuous Valentine’s

A Virtuous Valentine’s is a Charlotte Mason-inspired curriculum designed to study the life-changing love of God in a hands-on way. Through Scripture readings, beauty subjects, picture books, hands-on activities, and a look into the history of Valentine’s Day, this study provides an invitation to delve into the profound depth of God’s love and how it shapes our relationships. Explore how God’s love is unconditional, how love is expressed through acts of kindness and encouragement, how compassion and empathy can change hearts and lives, and how true love is demonstrated through selflessness and sacrifice. Your study will conclude by celebrating and creating memories together with a Valentine’s Day Tea Party.

Rooted Family Bible Curriculum

Embark on a journey of the heart guided by Scripture, beauty, art, hands-on connections, and family discussion with Rooted Family Bible Curriculum. Instill courage, confidence, and Biblical character in your children by rooting them in their heavenly identity, their devotion to God, and the wisdom of Scripture. It’s about giving children a solid root system in the Word of God before we launch them into the world.

Rooted is an 18-week family Bible curriculum. Each week centers around one declaration statement related to the themes of Identity, Devotion, and Wisdom. Rooted incorporates beauty subjects with Bible study including daily Scripture readings, discussion and prayer prompts, hymns, poetry, and art study.

An Expectant Easter

An Expectant Easter is a Bible-based, Charlotte Mason-inspired curriculum designed with your whole family in mind. It’s an invitation to gather your family to center your hearts on what Easter is all about. Through Bible stories, hymns, poetry, art studies, picture books, projects, baking, tea time, and nature studies, your family will spend three weeks connecting together and focusing on the newness of Spring, the sacrifice that Jesus made, and the power of His resurrection. This curriculum is designed for the three weeks leading up to Easter with lessons for Monday through Friday, but you can easily adapt to more or less time.

Light the Way Scripture Memory Set

Light the Way includes 24 weeks of daily scripture memory activities. Children can recite, write, draw, or interact with character-building scriptures as they commit them to memory. This can be used alongside the devotional book Our 24 Family Ways by Clay Clarkson or independently as an intentional scripture memory tool.

Do you have practical tips for teaching kindness in your home? Share your ideas in the comments below.