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Teaching our children about kindness to ourselves and our community of friends and family is so important. Thank you to KIND for sponsoring this discussion.
This morning as I was helping the Little One get ready for school and we had one of our usual conversations.
“What did you dream about last night”? I asked her. “What are you most excited about doing today”? I whispered into her ear.
Oh the things she says! Like, “I dreamed about giving all the lost puppies food and families”. They make me smile and they inspire me to be a better mom.
At school drop off I asked her to remember what I always say to her (I love you) but instead she said… “be kind”! This is something we totally talk about, and I was excited she thought of that too!
We talk about kindness with the girls all the time.
Be kind to your friends and help them whenever they need it. Be kind to strangers… hold the door for them. But so often I forget to remind them to be kind to themselves and their own bodies, which is just as important.
So after school we did things a bit differently than we normally do.
Instead of enjoying our after school snack in the house, we went on a kindness hike into our avocado grove and we talked about ways we can be kind to ourselves and others while we ate. They (Pete too!) each picked their favorite KIND bars so that they could be kind to their taste buds too!
KIND makes delicious, wholesome snacks from nutritionally-rich ingredients you can see & pronounce®.
We wrote these 10 kindness tips together as a family:
- Remember kindness in everything you do. Ask yourself often if you are being as kind as possible.
- Greet each person with kindness. Let them know you care.
- Show your body kindness by eating healthy foods that tastes good, like KIND bars!
- Show your skin kindness by wearing sunblock. (This was the little ones idea, love it!)
- Always hold doors for others and smile. This is the easiest way to show a stranger kindness.
- Recycle! Be kind to the planet!
- Exercise! Be kind to your body so that it can be kind back to you.
- Do random acts of kindness and surprises for others.
- Be kind online and offline. Treat others with kindness in person or on the computer.
- Give to others. As soon as my middle daughter said this one my little one squealed and asked if we could pick some avocados (after we had a snack) and share them.
There are so many KIND snacks but these are our current favorites!
Pete really likes the STRONG & KIND bars. Which pretty much is who he is if I had to describe him in two works… they are KIND’s first-ever savory snack line featuring 10 grams of soy-and-whey free protein made from ingredients you can see & pronounce®. They are available in five flavors… Hickory Smoked is the one he snacked on. Because not all protein is created equal, they use whole almonds, seeds and pea protein to give you 10g of natural protein and all nine essential amino acids in these bars.
The girls and I LOVED the KIND Healthy Grains Bars. They have a foundation of five super grains baked into a perfectly chewy, with a crunch, texture. Although they are available in five flavors, we enjoyed the Maple Pumpkin Seeds with Sea Salt and the Dark Chocolate Chunk the most! They have 100% Whole Grains: Gluten free oats, millet, quinoa, amaranth and buckwheat and each bar provides at least 18g of whole grains PLUS it is a good source of fiber and they taste amazing!
After our snack we went avocado picking!
KIND bars inspired the girls with their mission of “making the world a little kinder – one kind act and one snack at a time”.
The girls even decided on a kindness challenge of their own… they are going to try to show kindness at least 5 times a day and keep a kindness journal. I think this is a great idea on so many levels. This will encourage them to keep spreading kindness and a good mood booster when they are having a less than perfect day. Nothing makes us happier than to revisit times when we made a difference in someone else’s life and showed them kindness!
It’s so important to teach kids kindness. I don’t remember being taught it as a kid, buy grew up to be pretty kind myself so I try to make sure I teach my kids!
If I had a dollar for everytime I said, “Can you think of a KIND way to say that?” I would be rich! These are great tips, teaching kids to be kind is one of the most important thing we can do as parents!
I really love this. The world needs more kindness in it, and it’s so important that we take the time to teach it to our children.
My Hubs eats Kind bars. I just packed some for him over the weekend. He will be out of town and they help him to stay on track with his diet.
Being nice to everyone you meet can be hard, especially if they’re not nice back. But it’s important to teach kids that they should be kind.
Yay for KIND bars – they are awesome all the way around. No matter how LITTLE common sense the FDA has. I love the honey nut bars.
I love your ideas! They’re bound to have positive effects on children’s behaviors. Those bars sound really nice too!
My niece and nephew are surrounded by people who teach this to them regularly, and they are two of the kindest kids I know. My nephew is Mr. Popular, but even now at 13 when peer pressure really revs up, he sticks up for the underdog. My niece is becoming the same way.
These are such great tips for spreading kindess! And Kind bars are super yummy!
I have an 11 1/2 year old son and we have been through a lot through the years, he seemed to be a bit of a tough when he entered elementary school. He is now like a gentle giant, teaching him to be kind has not been a challenge, but rather a wonderful journey. I am gay and he has two dads so I am very specific about being aware of other kids like me that when he protects, it is like he is protecting his dad as a kid. He gets it and I am so proud! And don’t worry, I am tough now so he doesn’t have to protect his adult dad!
Kindness is so important, amazing tips because this is something all kid have to learn; especially in a world like we live in today!
Those are good rules for kindness. I think it’s important to teach kindness to kids early and keep away anger and hate!
These are great ideas. It’s so important to teach our children to be kind.
What a great lesson and walk with your kiddos! I have never seen an avocado grove before..how pretty!
These are all great suggestions on how to be more kind and spread some love. We live in such a hostile environment that we could all use a bit more smiles, understanding and caring.
I started teaching kindness to my kids as soon as they could understand. Going for a walk and talking about it is a great idea.
These are some great tips! It’s so important to make sure kids know about kindness. My girls are very good at being kind to one another. I just hope they stay that way forever.
These are all great ideas. Although I agree with all of them, I do think that random acts of kindness is one of the most important things. I’m a teacher and always tell my students that we should do good things, even if no one else is aware of them!
Great tips! I live the idea of a kindness hike too. How sweet!
These are all really great ideas. I started teaching my son about kindness when he was a little guy. It makes me smile when I see him go out of his way to help someone.
Recommended article! I wish all those with little ones can find it. Great tips on teaching kindness for all!
A kindness hike is a beautiful idea, I love it. I think its fantastic that you’re making the effort to raise thoughtful children.
Your girls are beautiful! I agree, kindness and compassion to others should be taught to our children at an early age.
I love the idea of a kindness walk. What a great way to have your snack and have some great family time.
I love the idea of being kind in everything that you do. Many people can learn from this.
Pumpkin seed, sea salt and chocolate? All in one snack. Sounds very good to me.
Love that this post included Kind bars, my favorite!!! And that’s a great idea to talk more about being nice to others and ourselves.
What a great list to be kind. We should all try to do things like this.
These are some really great ideas. It’s so important that we teach the kids and model kindness to them. We like to volunteer together.
I think that parents should teach their kids about being kind. It is amazing how a simple smile, how’s your day, or holding a door open can go. It’s sad that some kids aren’t taught this at home.
I would be in heaven if I had an avocado tree near my house. I love them.
I love this so much, teaching kindness is really important in this day and age; what a beautiful thing to do!
Kindness is one of those things that I think is extremely important to teach my kids as well. I try my best to practice what I preach.
That is a fantastic list! I love the kiddos’ input into ways to be kind. I think it’s important to remember to be kind to yourself.
great read! Kindness is a trait that will last them a lifetime if taught early.
What a great post about teaching kindness. I bet they will always remember that hike
these days it is so important to make a point to teach kindness to kids
If everyone did this this would be a much better world! I do eat Kindness bars on occasion!
These are really good tips. I try to teach these to my daughter on a daily basis. Thanks for sharing them.
The whole world could use some more kindness! I love your tips! Let’s hope that many people follow them!
This is so important. Thank you.
I love Kind bars!
Such easy ways to incorporate tips into our daily lives. My kids are definitely in need of more kindness teaching
These are some really great tips. If you ever get a chance to taste them, check out the Jalapeno Strong and Kind bars…omg so yummy!
It is so important to be kind to each other. What a great lesson to teach kids.
It’s great that you are teaching your kids about kindness. It seems that too many people are being taught about trying to be #1 and doing whatever it takes to get there.
Kindness is so important. It is a good thing to teach it to the kids.
Kindness tip #4 would have to be my favorite. 🙂 Even my son knows that he needs to wear sunscreen before he steps outside, more so now that it’s already summer here in the Philippines.
I love the way in which you’ve incorporated teaching kindness and bonding with your girls. I agree, we live in such a busy world that it’s important to remember to be kind. I’m sure it will become second nature to them and they will grow up to be very caring individuals.
A kindness journal is such a good idea for kids! We try and make sure to drop off food at our local food bank every week!
This sounds like a great day! I love your kindness tips from your whole family. Its important to teach kids these things!