Once all students have shared a nice thing with their partners, open it up to the entire classroom. Ask for volunteers who would like to share their nice thing with the class, or volunteers who have given their neighbors permission to share their nice things for them. Not sure where to start? We’ve put together some suggestions to help you out... At home and in your community

Doing someone a favor to get a favor in return is not wrong unless it's illegal or unethical (like bribery). But a favor done to get some benefit is not true kindness. Genuine kindness is lending a helping hand when you expect nothing in return. Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love.” —Lao Tzu The best portion of a good man’s life is his little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and of love.” —William Wordsworth Sharing the nice thing will put the students in a more positive frame of mind, and sharing something personal and positive with others will make them feel heard and affirmed by others. 4. Silent appreciation

How to Teach Empathy to Children and Adults

Mental Health Foundation - Our vision is of good mental health for all. The Mental Health Foundation works to prevent mental health problems. We will drive change towards a mentally healthy society for all, and support communities, families and individuals to lead mentally healthy lives with a particular focus on those at greatest risk. The Foundation is the home of Mental Health Awareness Week. People who describe themselves as happy tend to have fewer health problems, a lower risk of depression, and longer lives. Many men fail because they do not see the importance of being kind and courteous to the men under them. Kindness to everybody always pays for itself. And, besides, it is a pleasure to be kind.” —Charles M. Schwab

The Interviewer listens. Once the Speaker has finished, they pause. If the Speaker doesn’t say anything further, they will then share a paraphrased version of what they said, and pause again. What are your thoughts on teaching kindness and empathy in the classroom? How do you teach your children or students to be kind, or how do you work on building those traits in yourself? Let us know in the comments section below. We would love to hear from you. There are many strategies for teaching kindness—far too many to include them all here—but below are six solid strategies to start with (Proud to be Primary, 2017). This exercise can help you or a group learn about the different ways we can respond to a friend in need of empathy, and why empathy is usually the best choice. What is empathy? WorksheetKindness should begin with our kin. Ironically and tragically, many people display their most unkind behavior with the ones they should love the most. God is not unaware of this hypocrisy. Those of us who are kind and compassionate experience clear benefits to our well-being and happiness. We may even live longer. Kindness also helps reduce stress and improve our emotional well-being. 1,2

There are also many ways to teach empathy to children, a construct that’s similar to yet distinct from kindness. Just as modeling kindness is vital to teaching the concept to students, so is modeling empathy. The most important thing you can do to encourage empathy in your students is to use empathy yourself, whether with your students, other teachers, or even with fictional characters. Another activity that can help students practice their writing while injecting a little positivity into the classroom is called Thank You Post.

While many of the activities and exercises are perfect for World Kindness Day, the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation also has a list of 10 easy activities you can do to celebrate the holiday. Print out the leaves that we have also provided for you; green ones, because, well, we like to be a bit traditional, Each family member can get their own bingo sheet filled with kindness ideas. They can cross off the acts as they complete them. The first person to complete the chart gets a prize. Kindness is the light that dissolves all walls between souls, families, and nations. PARAMAHANSA YOGANANDA Kindness starts with caring—being tenderhearted and compassionate toward others. If God wants us to be kind to animals, how much more to people! (See Proverbs 12:10).

Custodian Appreciation: Have your students write letters and put up signs showing their appreciation for the people who keep the school clean and tidy. Encourage your students to make a special effort to keep the classroom clean to lighten the custodians’ workload. Action includes some kind of self-sacrifice and therefore generosity on our part, especially of our time. (That doesn't mean we neglect sufficient rest and whatever is needed to refill our own well.) This empathy worksheet is great for students and younger children due to the simple language and child-oriented depictions of empathy, but the message of this worksheet can be useful for older students and adults as well.Not only will this let the students know that someone cares about how they are feeling, but it also signals to them that sometimes they’ll be feeling something negative—and that there’s nothing wrong with that. Helping others is thought to be one of the ways that people create, maintain, and strengthen their social connections. There are plenty of resources out there for helping children and students to become kinder, more empathetic people. Adults can also learn these traits. It’s never too late to focus on building empathy and kindness in ourselves and in our communities. Face-to-face activities such as volunteering at a food bank can also help reduce loneliness and isolation. 6 It helps to keep things in perspective