Kindness Ideas
1. Give a friend your favorite inspirational book with a personal note attached.
2. Pay for the person behind you in line.
3. Plant a fruit tree where it will thrive.
4. Leave flowers on the doorstep of someone you don't know and run!
5. Write a thank you note to someone who inspired you.
6. Go to the nearest park or public spce and clean up as much litter as you can.
7. Create 5 cards with inspiring quotes or messages and leave them in a coffee shop or public place for someone to discover.
8. Pay for a stranger's meal anonymously.
9. Share an inspirational story from today's news.
10. Write a song, poem or a note for a loved one and share it with them.
11. Donate your professional clothes to an organization that helps people get back into the workforce.
12. Give gently worn home furnishings or household appliances to a person or family who might need them or donate them to an organization.
13. Take warm clothes, blankets or food to a homeless person that you often cross paths with.
14. Donate toys and books to a homeless organization.
15. Toys and books are just as important to kids as food and shelter.
16. When shopping, buy a couple extra non-perishable food items and take them to a food drive or pantry.
17. Make an extra serving of dinner and bring it to a homeless person in your neighborhood.
18. Don't wait until February to recognize the impact they make in your life. Celebrate Valentine's Day in September! Do an act of kindness for them today.
19. Write a note of appreciation and leave it for them to find.
20. Leave work early and spend time together. Take them out to dinner at their favorite restaurant.
21. Do an extra errand around the house and leave a smile card.
22. Surprise them with something that they've been wanting for a while.
24. Deliver a cooked meal for the entire family.
25. Let their children spend the day with you or have an "overnight" with your children. Run an errand for them. Give them a night out on the town (meal, movie, etc.).
26. Volunteer to pick the children up from school.
27. Offer help with homework or tutor a child that is having trouble at school.
28. Take a parent out to dinner at their favorite place.
29. Reach out to the homebound -- seniors, ill or incapacitate children or caregivers committed to caring for their family members at home.
30. Connect them to communication resources like radio, TV or Internet so they can stay connected to the world at large.
31. Find a good-news story in the media and email them regularly.
32. Tag them with an inspiring book. Offer to bring them books from the library. Share 'smile stories' you've read in this newsletter.
33. Help them take care of their pets. Convince a beautician or barber to make a house-call.
34. Buy them nice stationary so they write appreciative notes to those they are grateful for.
35. Ask a creative crafter to help you with acts of kindness.
36. Knit a hat for a homeless person this winter.
37. Crochet a table cloth for a family that just moved into the neighborhood.
38. Hand-craft some jewelry for women at a battered women's shelter.
39. Bake cookies to celebrate someone's achievement.
40. Setup a cooperative community art gallery for the work of seniors, school children or veterans.
41. Prepare a magnificent dinner for your local firemen.
42. Create a photo frame of your best friend's pet and leave it outside his/her door with a smile card.
43. Give scrap booking lessons and materials for underprivileged children.
44. Plant seeds of kindness in the corporate world.
45. Find the office of your CEO and leave a thank-you card with a smile card.
46. Setup a 'Christmas in Summer' volunteer event and invite all your co-workers to it.
47. Leave some cookies at the coffee station with a hand-made 'smile, help yourself, pay-it-forward' sign.
48. Learn about your employee-matching program and tell your colleagues about your favorite charity.
49. Place extra money in the company vending machine and tape a smile card next to it.
50. Next time you give a gift, deliver it in a context of generosity.
51. On your friend's birthday, sponsor an eye surgery for a blind person in a developing country;
52. sponsor a well where clean water is scarce; donate to local charity.
53. Frame an inspirational quote as a gift; buy two identical gifts and pay-forward one of them with a letter explaining the kind act;
54. tag someone with a smile card act and share the story as a gift to your best friend.
55. For a baby-shower, get audio excerpts of motherhood advice from moms you admire;
56. for a bridal shower, survey old couples in your neighborhood for marriage advice.
57. Give someone a nice journal of kindness, where they can write their reflections of generosity.
58. Express kindness to those who are healing.
59. Leave a stuffed animal for a child in a hospital.
60. Plant a tree to commemorate someone coming out of a long illness.
61. Run a race to help fund research for a fatal disease.
62. Tag a cancer patient with a book about a heroic recovery.
63. Volunteer at a hospice for the terminally ill.
64. Listen to a friend who is going through a tough time.
65. Reach out to far away lands, with long distance kindness.
66. Ask your penpal to do something kind in his/her local community.
67. Email your distant family member to have a conversation with the homeless and write to you about it.
68. Call up a friend in another state to tag another friend with a smile card.
69. When you are traveling, inscribe the inside jacket of a book with your favorite quote and your home city ... and leave it in a public place.
70. Honor your heroes with kindness. Dedicate a small act of kindness to your hero by writing them a letter about your experience.
71. Find your favorite elementary school teacher and send him/her some 'thank-you' flowers anonymously.
72. Get a 'just because' gift for your dad even when it isn't Father's Day.
73. Tell the story of your hero to a young child.
74. At your next family gathering, have everyone share each other's heroes.
75. In honor of your pet, volunteer at a local animal shelter.
76. Practice kindness towards the environment.
77. Participate in beach or park cleanups.
78. Reduce air pollution by carpooling, taking public transportation, biking, or walking.
79. Recycle all aluminum, plastic, and paper materials.
80. Cut down on the energy you use by lowering the heat and turning off lights and unused appliances.
81. Learn more about solar energy.
82. As gifts, give houseplants to teachers, friends, or coworkers. Plant a tree in your neighborhood.
83. Appreciate someone who has done something kind for you.
84. Send a 'Thank You' card to someone who's helped you when you really needed it. Write a letter to an old teacher who influenced your life.
85. Call your grandparents or parents and let them know how they've impacted your life.
86. Email a friend to thank them for being there for you through hardships.
87. Send an e-card to your husband or wife to tell them how much you appreciate having them in your life.
88. What can you do with five bucks to make someone's day? Tape the exact change for a soda to a vending machine or a payphone.
89. Pay the toll for the person behind you.
90. Leave flowers in front of someone's house. Bake cookies for your neighbors.
91. Put quarters in the laundry machine for the next person.
92. Send cards with beautiful messages to anonymous people. Leave chocolate on the desk of your co-workers.
93. Treat someone to a cup of their favorite coffee.
94. Clean out your closet and take the extra clothes to a local nonprofit organization.
95. If you have flowers blooming in your yard, leave some in your neighbor's newspaper, mailbox or front porch.
96. Keep some cold water bottles in your car, and give them to city workers that may be working hard in the sun.
97. Take a child (or an adult) out for their first ice cream for the summer.
98. Go to a local farm, pick up some summer fruits like mangoes or watermelon and invite your friends over.
99. Appreciate a community worker.
100. Give a thank-you card to a bus driver who is driving off-peak hours, personally thank the janitor who keeps your campus clean, tell a police officer that you appreciate his work for the community, send flowers to a local teacher who has dedicated her life to children.
101. Do something kind for those closest to you.
102. Give your housemate a hug in the morning, for no reason. Help your mother, brother, father, or sister with something that they would not expect you to do.
103. Leave a flower in your brother or sister's room.
104. Spend some time with your grandparents.
105. Make breakfast for your partner.
106. Call your parents just to say 'Hello'.
107. Before you get off the bus or train, leave an inspiring book on a seat with a Smile Card.
108. Give a flower to the bus driver or anyone else that looks like they can use it.
109. Leave a nice CD with a smile card.
110. Offer gum or candy to the person sitting next to you.
111. Give your seat to the elderly or mothers with children if it's crowded.
112. Help people find their way if they look lost.
113. Write a card with a beautiful quote or a blessing and leave it on your seat for someone to find.
114. Sometimes kindness is as simple as listening.
115. Lend an ear to someone going through a tough time.
116. Next time you ask someone, 'How are you?' listen fully to the response.
117. Learn about the latest in hearing aid technology and share it with a nonprofit organization serving the deaf.
118. Actively listen to your friends without judging.
119. Visit a nursing home and listen to stories of a senior who doesn't get any visitors.
120. Spend some time in silence, listen to your heart and follow it.
121. Connect with seniors in your community.
122. Visit senior centers or nursing homes.
123. Walk or visit with a senior that you know.
124. Help the seniors at a grocery store.
125. Read to an elderly.
126. Prepare a special meal or dessert for nursing home residents. Find safety information from firefighters and police and share those tips with seniors living alone.
127. Send a nice card to an elderly who's been an influence in your life.
128. Beautify public places in your community.
129. Clean graffiti on public walls.
130. Have a clean-up party at a park.
131. Volunteer with your local environmental group to plant a tree.
132. Adopt a beach.
133. Decorate your front porch with art.
134. Surprise your family with an act of kindness.
135. Send flowers (or a plant) to your mom or dad.
136. Have each member of your family choose someone outside the family who has made a positive difference in their lives.
137. Write short thank-you notes, and mail the letters together.
138. If you have children, take them to volunteer at a soup-kitchen in your neighborhood.
139. Anonymously tag your brother or sister with a gift that you know they've wanted for a while.
140. It's been a long winter. Make some soup or sandwich for a homeless person in your neighborhood and deliver it to them with a smile.
141. Stop and have a conversation with a homeless person.
142. Find out how they're doing.
143. Collect clothes from family and friends and take them to your closest shelter.
144. Collect food cans and take them to a food bank.
145. Never underestimate the power of books to expand minds. Give an inspiring book to a friend in need.
146. Encourage children to do a reading drive for a charity of their choice -- people donate money for every book they read this summer.
147. Subscribe an officemate to your favorite magazine.
148. Leave a good book in a public place with a smile card.
149. Forward an inspiring article to your email address book.
150. Instead of going out to a movie, go to a coffee shop with your favorite book.
151. Donate your unused books to your local library.
152. Volunteering often provides a good opportunity to be exposed to people who may be in need of an anonymous act of kindness in their lives.
153. Go volunteer at a local nonprofit.
154. Become a mentor for a child.
155. Support your local art groups.
156. Help read at a prison.
157. Build a home with Habitat for Humanity.
158. Spend time at senior community.
159. Visit an animal shelter.
160. Tag someone at a restaurant.
161. Buy someone dessert.
162. Pay for the person behind you at a drive-thru.
163. Pick up the tab of a random table at a restaurant and ask the cashier to pass on the smile card (after you leave).
164. If you're a parent, have your child write a thank-you note for the waitress.
165. Pick up flowers at the grocery store and after you check out, give them to the cashier or the bagger with a big smile and a smile card.
166. Get children excited about kindness.
167. Have a child deliver a hand-made card to your neighbor.
168. Gather up kids in your neighborhood and take 'em to a local orphanage or shelter to deliver some balloons and cookies.
169. Ask a child to share or give one of his/her toys.
170. Bake brownies with a youngster and have them pass it on to the mail-man or janitor, with a thank-you note.
171. Suggest some kindness ideas to a school teacher. Spread the word!
172. Volunteer to take a child trick-or-treating.
173. Teach a kid about safety while out at night; give them a flashlight.
174. Leave your porch light turned 'on' so the children can see the pathway and can be seen by the street traffic.
175. Buy or help make a Halloween costume for a deserving or underprivileged child.
176. Take the extra candy for your office co-workers the day after Halloween.
177. Have your kids make cupcakes for your neighbors, in appreciation for their support on Halloween.
178. Send unexpected bouquet of flowers to the hard-working receptionist in your office building.
179. Plant some flowers in your front-yard.
180. Give the gift of flower seeds at the next celebration you host.
181. When you receive one too many bouquets after an event, leave one anonymously on your neighbor's doorstep with a personalized note.
182. Walk down to your local city hall and hand a flower to everyone standing in the marriage registration line.
183. Take a child to a mall to give a "just because" flower to the five elders, with a heartfelt "have a nice day" greeting.
184. Share your umbrella with someone who doesn't have one.
185. Write a thank-you note to a mentor or someone who has influenced your life in a positive way.
186. Always say please, thank you, and you're welcome with a smile; you'll get it back!
187. Leave an extra big tip for a friendly waiter or waitress.
188. Defend others. Speak up when you hear someone use a racist remark, whether it's a family member, neighbor, co-worker, friend or stranger.
189. Pick up trash at playgrounds, schoolyards, or other community areas.
190. Pen is mightier than the sword, they say. Write a note of appreciation to someone.
191. Send an inspirational quote to someone going through a rough time.
192. Put a joke in your child's lunchbox. Send a nice card to your parents, 'just because.'
193. Volunteer to be a penpal for someone facing challenges in a developing country.
194. Write about why you give, save the document, and read it again couple years later.
195. Leave a handwritten, 'I Love You' note where your spouse might unexpectedly find it.
196. Give thanks. Volunteer at a soup kitchen.
197. Invite someone for dinner who would otherwise be spending the holiday alone.
198. For each family member, press a dried leaf and write a word of thanks with a permanent marker.
199. Donate your extra groceries to a food bank that serves needy families.
200. Interview your neighbhors about what they're thankful for, create a scroll from their responses and hand out a copy to everyone.
201. Dedicate the day to truly give thanks and embrace each encounter as an opportunity to express kindness.
202. As December approaches, the heaters turn on and jackets are zipped up, be mindful of the less fortunate ones.
203. Donate your unused winter-wear to those who might not have a home.
204. Arrange a clothing drive in your neighborhood.
205. Become a 'secret santa' for a family in need.
206. Next time you're on the streets, take some soup or hot chocolate for a homeless person.
207. Clip all the positive news stories you read this season, make a nice album and leave it at your dentist's office.
208. Teach a child about generosity by asking them to donate one of their toys this Christmas.
209. Restrain from criticizing or saying anything negative to anyone this week.
210. In a challenging situation, dare to see the glass half full rather than half empty.
211. Listen more than you speak.
212. Give freely of yourself.
213. Practice kindness at every opportunity you get.
214. Gift of service: donate to a cause, as a holiday gift for your best friend.
215. Gift of affection: be generous with hugs, kisses and pats on the back.
216. Gift of laughter: clip cartoons, share funny stories.
217. Gift of a written note: send a 'thank you' note, write a letter to an old friend.
218. Gift of a compliment: a simple 'you look great today', a sincere 'thank you for a wonderful meal'.
219. Gift of listening: no interrupting, no daydreaming, no responding, just listening.
220. Gift of solitude: spend some time in silence, help others spend some time in silence.
221. Make a New Year's resolution about giving.
222. Do one small act of kindness every month, whether it is mowing your neighbor's lawn or paying toll for the person behind you or smiling a little extra at a stranger.
223. Make a monthly ten dollar donation to a nonprofit organization that is doing work in your local community.
224. Express gratitude in the most unexpected places by taking time to say 'nice landing' to a pilot after a safe landing or leaving a big tip for your favorite restaurant waiter.
225. Teach a child about giving by taking them on trips to a local homeless shelter or a senior center.
226. Prepare a nutritious sack lunch for a homeless person and hand it to him/her saying "have a great day".
227. Shovel snow for someone. Mow the yard of an elderly or ill neighbor.
228. Run or walk a race, or walk for the cure to help fund research for an incurable disease.
229. If you see someone having a bad day, stop to listen to them, hand them a flower, anything to make a difference in their day.
230. Babysit for free for a mom who needs a day to herself.
231. Offer to drive elderly or disabled people to appointments or the grocery store.
232. Crochet or knit baby hats and blankets to donate to a local hospital nursery.
233. Leave your newspaper behind for the next person to read.
234. Teach your children or grandchildren the act of giving.
235. Get kids excited about kindness! Setup a 'lemonade' stand on a busy street corner in your neighborhood to raise money for a local charity.
236. Identify powerful quotes on kindness and have a teacher put them up in his/her classroom.
237. Encourage a child to start a conversation with a new kid in the community, or eat lunch at school with someone whom he/she doesn't normally talk to.
238. Throw a party with youngsters, where they make 'SMILE' posters and waive them at nearby street intersections.
239. Engage kids in volunteerism by helping out at a local animal shelter.
240. As a family, write thank you cards for your garbage collector, postman, gardener and other people who provide often-overlooked services.
241. Create beauty, in the spirit of kindness.
242. Draw the feeling of kindness and send it as a postcard to your distant family members.
243. Create a collage that expresses kindness and hang it up at your office.
244. Write a story about a powerful moment when you received kindness and reflect on it before you start the day.
245. Make something of beauty and gift it selflessly to the first person who appreciates it.
246. Be bold in your appreciation of life around you!
247. Read to a child. Make a wish come true.
248. Rake someone's yard. Smile at a stranger.
249. Be a courteous driver. Help Special Olympics.
250. Sing a song. Pick up litter. Train Seeing Eye dogs. Tutor immigrants.
251. Be a pen pal. Hold the elevator door.
252. Change a tire. Adopt-a-Highway.
253. Organize a neighborhood watch. Teach peer mediation.
254. Tell a joke. Sub for Santa. Start a community garden.
255. Buy donuts for neighboring office. Be a Crisis-Line volunteer.
256. Send a thank you note. Give clothes at a shelter.
257. Tend abused children. Wash a car.
258. Visit a lemonade stand. Plant a tree. Recycle. Visit a sick neighbor.
259. Give a tip.
260. Create change one conversation at a time.
261. Stand up for a woman who is the target of a sexist remark.
262. Teach your children the value of using kind and gentle language.
263. Thank a friend or colleague who stood for someone who was the target of a derogatory comment.
264. Send an e-mail of appreciation to someone in the media who has challenged sexist remarks.
265. Support your local schools in developing policies that prevent sexist language in the classroom.
266. Organize a group at your college or university.
267. Help to educate a friend about how negative comments diminish all of us.
