Kindness Advent Calendar: 24 Acts of Kindness for Kids

A kindness Advent calendar swaps the daily chocolate for one small, kind act a child can actually do themselves: a note under a pillow, a card through an older neighbour's door, a tin for the food bank, seeds for the birds. The best ideas take 5 to 30 minutes, cost little or nothing and end with someone else smiling. Here are 24 acts of kindness for kids, grouped by who they're for, then laid out day by day so you can copy them straight onto cards.

What makes a good act of kindness for a child

Children lose interest quickly if “be kind” stays vague, or if the grown-up ends up doing all the work. Before an idea goes on a card, check it against these points:

• Concrete: the child can see it done. “Make Grandad a card” works; “think about others” doesn't.
• Small: it fits on a school night, between tea and bath time.
• Theirs: the child draws, writes, carries or chooses. The adult helps with the stamp, the kettle or the walk to the door.
• Safe: anything outside the house is done with a grown-up, and children don't knock on strangers' doors alone.
• No reward expected: a tick on the calendar is enough. Kindness doesn't need to be posted online either.

Kindness at home and for family far away

1. Hidden notes: a kind word or a drawing for each person in the family, hidden in a shoe, a coat pocket or under a pillow.
2. A chore for someone else: lay the table, feed the cat or pair the socks without being asked.
3. Breakfast in bed: toast and a cup of tea for a parent, with a grown-up on kettle duty.
4. A phone call to a grandparent: ask them what Christmas was like when they were seven, and listen to the whole answer.
5. A card for family far away: drawn by hand and posted. If it's going abroad, check the international last posting dates early.
6. The secret compliment: at tea, everyone draws a name from a hat and gives that person three specific compliments, such as “you were kind when you helped me tidy up”.

Kindness for neighbours and the community

1. A card for someone who lives alone: an older neighbour, a friend of Granny's, someone from church. Pop it through the letterbox together.
2. A reverse Advent calendar: put one food or toiletry item into a box each day, then take the box to your local food bank (a food pantry in the US) before Christmas. Most food banks list the items they're short of, so check first.
3. The sharing box: toys, books and clothes in good condition, sorted together and taken to a charity shop or donation point.
4. Thank-you notes for the people who help: the bin collectors, the postie, the school crossing patrol, the dinner ladies or the teaching assistant.
5. A litter pick: ten minutes on your street or in the park, with gloves, a bag and a grown-up.
6. A helping hand: carry a neighbour's shopping, bring their bins in or sweep their path, with an adult.
7. A window for passers-by: paper snowflakes, a drawing or a lit-up scene in the front window. Some towns run an Advent window trail, with a new window revealed each evening.

Kindness for animals and the planet

1. A feast for the birds: pine cones rolled in unsalted vegetable fat and bird seed, hung from a tree or a balcony.
2. Water for the birds: a shallow dish of fresh water on frosty mornings, changed every day.
3. The animal shelter: ask your local rescue what it needs (often old towels or blankets) and drop off a bag together.
4. Wrapping paper that gets reused: potato prints or children's drawings on brown paper.
5. Bulbs in a pot: tulip bulbs can still go in during December, for a pot of flowers to give someone in spring.

A 24-day kindness calendar, ready to copy

Here are the ideas above, placed so the longer ones fall at weekends (adjust to this year's dates), plus a few for Christmas week. Copy one line onto each card or envelope.

1. Hidden notes for everyone at home
2. Start the reverse Advent calendar box
3. Lay the table without being asked
4. Draw a card for a grandparent
5. Fill a dish of water for the birds
6. Make bird feeder pine cones
7. Sort the sharing box
8. Phone a grandparent and ask about their childhood Christmases
9. Thank-you note for the bin collectors
10. Secret compliments at tea
11. Card for a neighbour who lives alone
12. Breakfast in bed for a grown-up
13. Decorate the front window for passers-by
14. Litter pick in the park
15. Thank-you card for a teacher or teaching assistant
16. Plant bulbs in a pot to give in spring
17. Take the sharing box to a charity shop
18. Pair the socks for the whole family
19. Drop the reverse Advent calendar at the food bank
20. Make potato-print wrapping paper
21. Wrap a present for someone else in the family
22. Help get the house ready for visitors
23. Make chocolate truffles to give a neighbour
24. Memory jar: write a thank-you to someone in the family

Running it with a class or a group

A kindness Advent calendar for school, Brownies or Cubs works best when it is shared, voluntary and quiet about who did what. December has around three weeks of school before the break, so plan for school days only.

• A kindness chain: each act adds a paper link, and the chain goes round the classroom by the end of term.
• Class-wide acts: a card for the kitchen staff, a thank-you poster for the caretaker, pictures for a local care home (arranged with the home first).
• A secret buddy: each child draws a name and leaves a kind note for that classmate during the week.
• A class food bank box: make it optional and anonymous, as not every family can give.
• No league table: count the acts as a class, never per child.

Two printables that include kindness

Our printable family Advent calendar mixes kindness with crafts, cooking, games and outings: five of its 24 cards are acts of kindness (hidden notes, cards for loved ones, the sharing box, a feast for the birds and the memory jar), each with the materials, time and age. For the rest of the year, 100 Screen-Free Challenges, for ages 7 to 12, includes a Kindness mission, Surprise post and The secret compliment among its 100 one-page challenges. Both are PDFs for personal and family use, so for a class, write your own cards. More ideas on our printable Advent calendars page.

Kindness, ready to print

Printable Advent calendar: 24 family activities

€14.90

What if Advent became family time again?

100 screen-free challenges for ages 7-12

€9.90

"I'm bored!" What if the answer fitted on one page?

Frequently asked questions