5 Games About Kindness You Can Play With Your Kids
Published April 17, 2023
When teaching your kids about kindness, simply telling them how to be kind won’t cut it. With so many distractions around them, you’ll be lucky if they’ll remember even just one word you said.
That’s why playing games is one of the best ways to teach your kids about kindness and other moral values. It not only engages them physically but also stimulates their minds and forces them to think.
Research also shows that playing games helps children test out what they learn in books. It promotes critical thinking and hones their problem-solving skills too.
Besides, as a former teacher myself, I can tell you from experience that playing games will make your kids learn faster and retain information longer.
So if you’re at a loss on how to make them learn kindness lessons by heart, here are games about kindness you can play with your kids:
1. Smile Infection Game
Spreading smiles is one of the best ways to spread kindness. With this game, your kids will learn the importance of putting a smile on other people’s faces.
Suitable for ages: 5 to 10
Goals of the game: spread smiles and kindness
What you’ll need:
- a tennis ball with a smiley face drawn on it
- music
How to play:
- Gather the kids in a circle.
- Let the kids pass the ball to each other while the music is playing.
- When the music stops, the kid holding the ball will have to make the others laugh. They can tell a silly joke or do funny faces – anything to make their peers laugh.
- Repeat the process until all the children have taken their turn making the others laugh.
2. Kindness Charade
This works very much like the traditional game of charades. But instead of random actions, participants will act out acts of kindness. You can play this in teams or as a whole group.
Suitable for ages: 8 to 15
Goals of the game: to demonstrate acts of kindness
What you’ll need:
- small, folded pieces of paper with acts of kindness written on them
How to play:
- Have a kid pick out a folded piece of paper and act out the act of kindness written on it.
- Let the other kids guess what their peer is acting out
3. Kindness Jar
Sometimes, teaching your kids about kindness isn’t enough. You need to motivate them to be kind, too, and this game will help you do exactly that.
Note, however, that this game isn’t meant to be played in just one sitting. You can keep this going for weeks or months.
Suitable for ages: all ages
Goals of the game: motivate the participants to perform acts of kindness
What you’ll need:
- a transparent jar (the size depends on how long you plan to keep this going)
How to play:
- Tell the kids that for every act of kindness they do, you’ll put a coin in the jar.
- Take out all the coins at the end of the week or month, then use them to buy the kids a reward like ice cream or chocolate.
4. The Kindness Box
Want to teach your kids about the importance of sharing their blessings? This game will be perfect for them. It not only teaches them about generosity but also of selflessness and charity.
Recommended for: kids of all ages
Goals of the game: demonstrate what selflessness and charity really mean
What you’ll need:
- empty boxes
- reward stickers
How to play:
- Ask the kids to bring something they own. It can be a book, toy, clothing, or anything that can still be used by others.
- Have them put all the items they brought in the box.
- Give reward stickers for every item the kid brings. Tell them they can collect these stickers and exchange them for a real reward item later on.
- Seal the box and put them in storage.
- Do this once a month or at more convenient intervals.
- At the end of the year or during Thanksgiving, you can donate the boxes to charitable institutions. You can even let the kids go with you to the donation site and explain to them who will benefit from the kindness boxes.
- Trade the reward stickers the kids have collected with real items like chocolates, toys, candies, etc.
5. Blindfold Building
Being able to work effectively with other people also requires kindness. With this game, you can teach your kids patience, teamwork, and how to treat others with kindness and respect.
Recommended for: kids ages 8 and up
Goals of the game: to foster camaraderie
What you’ll need:
- a long rope
- a large space
- a handkerchief or anything that can be used to blindfold the participants
How to play:
- Divide the kids into teams.
- Give a rope to each team and have each member hold onto a part of the rope.
- Let the kids stand in a circle and wear their blindfolds.
- While holding the rope, tell the kids to form a shape.
- Give them two minutes to form the shape you instructed.
- Once the time is up, let them drop the rope and remove their blindfolds.
- The group that formed the closest shape to the one you instructed gets the point.
Teaching your kids how to be kind doesn’t have to be boring. With these games about kindness, they’ll not only have fun but also learn a lesson they’ll never forget.
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About The Author
Judy Ponio is a professional writer and devoted Christian. She has a passion for writing about topics related to morality and helping the poor and homeless. She is the lead author for the Our Father’s House Soup Kitchen blog.
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