Maria goes live every other week, taking turns between her author Facebook page and her private Empowering Kids with Character Facebook group. For this one, she talks about kindness in the home and all through Summer (yes, even though it’s only the beginning of May!). You can watch the video here.
The first thing Maria talked about was that in the Empowering Kids with Character Facebook group, for the entire month of May, they will be talking about Summer planning! EVERY single day they’ll be discussing all kinds of ways to make the most of your summer! If you haven’t hopped in there to check it out, be sure you do – you will find so many helpful tips.
For today, though, Maria talked about kindness in the home. She was thinking of ways that she can give back and show kindness with her children.
She owns a publishing company and they receive books back from bookstores, because those books aren’t “perfect”. Maybe they have a slightly bent corner and the bookstore returns them. A lot of publishers will then donate these returned books to charity. Maria said some publishers will even pulp (dissolved into a milky liquid and reconstituted as clean paper) the books if there are too many (Maria reassured us she will never do this!). Anyway, Maria and her children had a goal last year to donate 100 of these returned books to 100 Little Free Libraries. I am so proud that I was able to help her with this project last summer! She would let me know what areas she would be around and I would search for Little Free Libraries in those areas and send them to her. Maria and her children surpassed their goal and donated between 140-150 books last summer. WOW!!!! That’s a definite way to give back and show kindness!
So, what can you and your children do to promote kindness THIS summer? Maria shared a free printable by ToddlerApproved.com. It’s called 100 Acts of Kindness. You can print it out, place it somewhere you can see it and every time someone in your family does something kind, you fill in a heart. This doesn’t have to be over-the-top acts. It can be as simple as smiling at someone, opening the door for a sibling, maybe helping a neighbor with their mail or helping them with their yard. You can do large acts as well – help with a charity, make cookies for a nursing home and deliver them (this will bring a HUGE smile to those folks!) or write letters to family/friends that don’t live nearby. The goal is to just be more intentional about being KIND. Tell us – what ideas came to your mind about showing kindness?
Have you signed up for the Maria’s newsletter? You will learn more about raising kind and caring humans using positive character traits in your home or classroom. By signing up, you will also receive, FREE, our Ultimate Character Booklist with over 100 books we recommend you have in your home or classroom library!
Remember that Maria alternates these videos between her author page and the private Empowering Kids with Character page, which provides more ideas on the monthly theme and also support from fellow parents and educators!
