5 ways to be kind on World Kindness Day

Aesop, famous for his fables, once said “No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.”

This timeless quote is especially true on a day like yesterday, which just so happened to be World Kindness Day, when we can celebrate our ability to make a difference to someone’s day with just a small gesture.

Take a look at some of our suggestions on how to get your Scouts involved with making random acts of kindness this week and encourage them to carry it on afterwards.

Help out in the local community

There are many people in the local community, such as the elderly, less fortunate and others, who could benefit from a random act of kindness every so often to brighten their day up. All it takes is a passing smile or a helping hand to be kind to someone in need.

There may be some local organisations that could do with an extra effort to help those in the area so why not get your Scouts involved?

Be kind to the environment

We don’t always have to just think about being kind to other human beings, encourage your group to think about how they can be kind to the environment or animals with small acts such as planting a tree or leaving out some seeds for the birds to feed on in the cold weather.

You could also ask your Scout Group to bring in any unused clothes, towels or blankets that you can then donate to a charity shop, homeless shelter or animal rescue in your area as these organisations are always looking for some extra donations and helps to reduce waste, and donating them contributes to saving the planet at the same time.

Share

They say a problem shared is a problem halved, so by getting your Scouts to buddy up and share their day with the person next to them could have a reassuring effect on each other.

A great idea to continue this kindness throughout the year is to create a positivity tree on the wall where everyone shares a kind message, tying it to the tree which they can look at whenever they feel the need for some encouragement.

Discuss what kindness means

By sharing in a group what kindness means to each individual person might help your Scouts think more about their everyday actions and how being kind to one another really affects them. Doing this can also give others ideas that they can incorporate in to their day to be kind.

Write yourself a letter

Sometimes we associate being kind with thinking about others and putting them before ourselves. But it’s essential that we encourage the younger generation to also be kind to themselves as well.

We like the idea of encouraging them to write a letter to their future selves on how they promise to be kinder and make more time for something that makes them happy.

How will you and your Scouts be making an effort to be kinder this week? Let us know on our Facebook page or you can tweet us!