12 Days of Kindness Calendar
We’re taking the next two weeks off from blogging and will return here to meet up with you again in January. To tide you over until then, we thought we’d share a really cool and kind idea: the Twelve Days of Kindness.
In December, each day after school, students at Woods Lake began focusing on acts of kindness. As part of Kids in Tune (a partnership of the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, Communities In Schools of Kalamazoo, and Kalamazoo Public Schools) one student has been reading out loud the day’s theme to the rest of the students and then everyone practices that theme. Students carry forward the themes of each day, adding to their musical and kindness repertoire. Deb Faling, CIS Director of Social Emotional Health Initiatives says the students have responded overwhelmingly to the activity. “Each day, a number of teachers, staff, Kids in Tune volunteers have had opportunities to pass out ‘kindness coupons.’ There were a variety of incentives associated with the Twelve Days of Kindness, including rounds of applause from their fellow Kids in Tuners. It’s been fun for kids and grown-ups, alike!” The themes, which Deb and Eric Barth came up with and incorporated into December programming were:
Please and Thank You Day
Be Kind to Your Instrument Day
Kind Smiles Day
Kind Words and Compliments Day
Kind Listening Day
Be Kind to Your School Day
Post-it Notes of Kindness Day
Kindness Crafts Day
Kindness Chain Day
Write Kind Letters Day
Be a Kind Helper Day
Culmination of Kindness Day
When was the last time you did something kind? What acts of kindness have you benefitted from? Ralph Waldo Emerson noted that “you cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.” So, during these next few weeks, let’s all do some kindness while we still have time. See you back here in January.
One of the many kindness letters written
Tags: Deb Faling, Eric Barth, Kalamazoo Kids In Tune, Kalamazoo Public Schools, Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, KSO, mindfulness, social emotional learning, twelve days of kindness, Woods Lake
