February was a month filled with love, friendship, and inclusivity. We celebrated Black History Month, Valentine’s Day, and Pink Shirt Day, all focused on the theme of kindness. As one of our core values, we believe that teaching children about being kind is crucial to creating a better and more inclusive world.
Kindness isn’t just about saying please and thank you or holding the door open for someone. It’s about showing empathy, compassion, and understanding towards others; lessons we try to instill in our children. Here are a few ways we teach about kindness that you can practice at home as well.
- Model Kindness: Children learn by watching the behaviour of those around them. If you model kindness towards others, they are likely to do the same.
- Positive Reinforcement: When your child does something kind, make sure to acknowledge it and celebrate it. This will encourage them to continue that behaviour.
- Read Books About Kindness: Books are an excellent tool to introduce new concepts and spark conversations with your child. Reading books about kindness can help your child understand why it’s important and how they can practice it in their daily lives. Try I Am Enough, by Grace Byers – it’s featured in our Black History Month Reading List.
- Incorporate Kindness into Pretend Play: Pretend play is a great way for children to explore different roles and scenarios. Encourage them to include acts of kindness and gratitude into their play to help model the behaviour.
- Ask About Kindness: When you ask your child about their day, ask them about something kind someone did for them or if they did anything kind for someone else. This teaches them that kindness is something important to pay attention to and prioritize.
As an organization, we recognize the importance of celebrating Acts of Kindness. As part of our Kidco Kudos program, we invite our families to nominate Kids & Company staff who they feel are aligned with our values of kindness, innovation, diversity, courage, and optimism. If you’d like to recognize someone for their positive impact, you can submit a nomination here.