Make Your Own Kindness Tree

The materials you will need:

• A sheet of brown paper, or white paper and brown paint
• Colourful sheets of paper or card
• A marker pen
• Scissors
• A large envelope
• Sticky tape or glue stick
• Download a tree template Tree trunk template
• Download a heart template Heart template
• Download a label template Label template
• Download a ribbon template Ribbon Template

Instructions:

1. This activity requires some prep work. Use your marker pen to draw a large tree with spreading branches on brown paper. Cut this out and then stick it on to an open wall or window.
2. Next step is to draw and cut out some hearts from the colourful paper. Put all the hearts you have cut into your envelope for safe keeping. These hearts will eventually make up the leaves (or flowers) of the tree.
3. Each time a family member does something kind for you or for someone else, let them know that they have just been kind. Write their name on one of the cut out hearts as well as the kind thing they did and stick it on to one of the branches of the tree.
4. While the tree is up, ask your kids to tell you if someone else is being kind, like a family member or friend, and then write their name and act of kindness on a heart too.

Of course this little idea can also be adapted to be a classroom project! Teachers can draw the tree trunk and branches on to the classroom wall and students can participate in acts of kindness to get their names on the branches, making this an awesome “team building” experience.

For some, kindness comes naturally, for others, they need to build confidence and a bit of awareness before they learn to perform kind acts and gestures. As parents and educators, it really is part of our jobs to guide children to be individuals who can cope in society an help others cope as well. This simple and easy activity has the potential to have amazing outcomes in helping to create little beings who see how important it is to do good in this world.

#beekind #kindness