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I love doing summer projects with my kids.  It gives them something to look forward to each day during the summer while still teaching them valuable lessons.  Two years ago we did a Summer of Kindness project and performed random acts of kindness for each of the 75 days of our summer break.  I came up with a list of ideas for about half of the days and as the summer went along our girls started coming up with their own ideas which made my husband and me so happy to see!  We took several different trips that summer so we incorporated our acts of kindness while we traveled.  Our goal was to help the girls see how easy it is to be kind and do good.

When summer was over we asked them what they had learned and here is what they had to say…

6 year old:  I learned there are many ways to be kind and it makes everyone happy.
3 year old:  I learned that it’s easy to be kind and makes me happy

Adults are never too old to learn about ways to be kind and the biggest thing my husband and I learned is that the first step to being kind is being aware….aware of the people around us, the articles in the paper, the ads on TV, the fliers in our mailbox and the donation boxes in stores and restaurants. As we go about our busy lives it’s easy to overlook ways we can make a difference but if we just slow down and pay attention we’ll see just how much need there is in our cities, our country, and our world. Everyone has the ability to make a small contribution in some way.

We are so grateful for the lessons we all learned and our whole family agrees it was the best summer ever!  Now, two years later the girls continue to do acts of kindness on a daily basis.  It makes my heart happy!

If you would like to do a Summer of Kindness project, check out the list of things we did during our summer break.  Some of them are pretty specific to our area and also to the vacations we took that year but it will give you an idea of what you can incorporate for your own project.  I’ve also included a printable list of 75 projects that can be done anywhere.  In addition, I’ve included a kindness card like the ones we left when we performed each act of kindness.  You can get yours here.

Summer of Kindness

Day 1 – Left muffins in the breakroom at Dad’s school for the teachers who were cleaning up their classrooms
Day 2 – Set up a free lemonade stand in our driveway
Day 3 – Fed the ducks at a park
Day 4 – Taped money and popcorn to a Redbox machine
Day 5 – Donated clothes, toys and baby items to a women’s shelter
Day 6 – Went to the McDonald’s playground and bought ice cream cones for the kids playing there
Day 7 – Gave a bouquet of flower to the grandparents
Day 8 – Brought the neighbor’s trash can up from the curb
Day 9 – Made a bird nest feeder of string, straw, shredded paper and dog hair

Day 10 – Made brownies for the grandparents
Day 11 – Took flowers to a cemetery on Memorial Day and placed on gravestones that did not have any

Day 12 – Gave snacks and juice to the kids playing in the community pool
Day 13 – Taped dollar bills on toys at the dollar store
Day 14 – Left dimes on the playground for other kids to find
Day 15 – Gave snacks and a water bottle to our garbage man

Day 16 – Were kind to each other by taking a 6-hour road trip in a van with 7 people without any fighting, crying, screaming or bickering the whole trip
Day 17 – Ordered dessert for a family sitting behind us at a restaurant
Day 18 – Gave glow wands to kids waiting to watch the Disneyland “Paint the Night Parade”
Day 19 – Gave some small Disney toys to kids waiting behind us in line for a ride
Day 20 – Gave our Fastpasses to people so they didn’t have to wait 95 minutes to ride Hyperspace Mountain
Day 21 – Left a package of baby wipes on the changing table in a restroom at a rest stop
Day 22 – Helped Mom by unpacking all the suitcases, putting stuff away and doing laundry without being asked
Day 23 – Taped quarters on a claw grabber machine at a restaurant
Day 24 – Helped each other put on sunscreen before going swimming
Day 25 – Made cookies and gave them to the camp host at the campground we always stay at
Day 26 – Spread wildflower seeds around a fire damaged area in the mountains
Day 27 – Made a peanut wreath squirrel feeder

Day 28 – Handed out S’mores packets to the people camping near us
Day 29 – Walked the campground and picked up litter
Day 30 – Brought Dad a cold bottle of water when he was mowing the lawn
Day 31 – Left an activity book in the seat of a shopping cart at Wal-Mart
Day 32 – Cleaned up and organized the toys in the dentist office waiting room without being asked
Day 33 – Delivered cases of water to a homeless youth center
Day 34 – Put toys back up on shelves in a store after other kids knocked them off
Day 35 – Helped each other practice our letters and sight words
Day 36 – Donated books and magazines to the library at a retirement park
Day 37 – Bought groceries and donated them to a food pantry

Day 38 – Selected a toddler girl in Indonesia to sponsor through ChildFund International
Day 39 – Gave Goldfish crackers to kids at the Finding Dory movie
Day 40 – Put together heat relief packets for the homeless
Day 41 – Washed the windows in Mom’s van
Day 42 – Cleaned the house, did the dishes and took care of Mom while she was sick with a migraine
Day 43 – Moved a shopping cart from a parking space and put it in the cart corral at Ikea so someone could park
Day 44 – Donated shoes to Soles 4 Souls
Day 45 – Handed out water bottles to people out for a walk in our neighborhood
Day 46 – Handed out flags to people in the airport when they picked up their Papa who flew back home on the 4th of July

Day 47 – Made laundry detergent bags to donate to the Ronald McDonald house
Day 48 – Left coloring books and crayons in the waiting room at the children’s hospital
Day 49 – Took pictures of geckos in our yard and emailed them to the scientists at GeckoWatch for their research
Day 50 – Donated toiletries for a summer toiletry drive for the homeless
Day 51 – Helped Auntie Kristen pull up the carpet and tack strips in her living room
Day 52 – Cut off 12″ of hair and donated it to  Wigs for Kids

Day 53 – Made bookmarks and left them in books in the library
Day 54 – Took a bucket of candy into Mom’s office for her coworkers to enjoy
Day 55 – Paid for loaves of bread for the person standing behind us in line at the bread store
Day 56 – Wrote letters and colored pictures to send to soldiers
Day 57 – Gave an Indian bracelet to a girl while visiting the Four Corners
Day 58 – Gave away train whistles on the Durango-Silverton train

Day 59 – Left change taped to a vending machine
Day 60 – Used their own money to buy Dad a souvenir from Colorado
Day 61 – Read books to each other
Day 62 – Helped Dad and other teachers move stuff into their classrooms
Day 63 – Paid for lunch for the person waiting behind us in line at McDonald’s
Day 64 – Mailed packets of seeds to Family-to-Family’s “Seeds for Change”

Day 65 – Held open the door for someone going into a store
Day 66 – Dropped off plastic bags to be recycled at Wal-Mart and batteries to be recycled at Home Depot
Day 67 – Donated teacher supplies and classroom items to Arizona’s Treasures 4 Teachers
Day 68 – Bought someone a cold drink at a gas station
Day 69 – Donated cat and dog food to an animal shelter
Day 70 – Gave a water bottle and neck cooler to our mailman
Day 71 – Donated puzzles and visited with residents at an assisted living center
Day 72 – Made brownies and took them to a neighbor who lost his wife to cancer several months earlier
Day 73 – Collected cans to be recycled
Day 74 – Let someone go in line ahead of us at the grocery store
Day 75 – Held a mini back-to-school drive and donated backpacks and school supplies to kids in need

Be sure to get your Summer of Kindness cards here!

You can get a printable copy of the  “75  Random Acts of Kindness to do with your kids this summer” list here!

Do you do random acts of kindness with your kids?  Do you have any favorites that I didn’t mention?  Please let me know in the comments below!

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