Compassion and Kindness week

“The one sure means of dealing with boredom is to care for someone else, to do something kind and good.” T. Haecker

This week I want to encourage you to focus on stepping up and reaching out in order to show kindness to others. Compassion takes intentional thought and deliberate steps of action, and we want to teach it to our kids at an early age. The summer offers a wonderful time to encourage kindness in your kid’s hearts and help them to understand the joy of serving others. Here are some activities, books, crafts and devotionals to make it a tremendous week.

Activities: Bring toys to kids at a children’s hospital, read books to the elderly at a nursing home, volunteer at a Special Olympics event, bring cookies to a neighbor, write letters to military men and women, clean up trash at a local park, visit a homeless shelter, contact your church to find out some of the parishioners needs, have a garage sale to raise money for a charity, volunteer at a local food bank, surprise someone in need with an anonymous gift.

Books:
A Little Book of Manners: Courtesy & Kindness for Young Ladies by Emilie Barnes, Anne Christian Buchanan, and Michal Sparks
The Kindness Curriculum: Introducing Young Children to Loving Values by Judith Rice
Jesus Teaches Me Kindness (An Arch Books Series) by Inspirational Press

Also, visit http://www.kelsiskindheart.com/ to read about a wonderful girl who served others during her precious, brief life here on earth. You’ll find even more ideas on how to show compassion and kindness at her site.

Crafts: Decorate paper lunch bags and pack lunches to hand out to the homeless, draw pictures to hand out at nursing homes or children’s hospital, bake cookies or decorate cup cakes to give away, help someone paint a room in their house, make cards to send to service men and women, cook a meal for someone in need, decorate aprons to give to the school lunch ladies, create a photo album to send to grandparents and make their day.

Devotional:
Monday: God is kind and gracious. Psalm 103
Tuesday: What does true love look like? I Corinthians 13
Wednesday: Christ was our example of serving. Philippians 2
Thursday: If you want to be great in God’s kingdom, learn to serve. Mark 10:44
Friday: Clothe yourself with kindness and compassion. Colossians 3:12-14