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How To: Encourage Your Children to Be Kind

KOB RAK

We’re often asked, “How can parents encourage their children to be kind?”

We’ve compiled a few tips to help!

  • Say no to “Sticks and Stones can break my bones, but words can NEVER hurt me.” Discuss to children about the impact words can really have on others, and encourage them to say kind words, words of encouragement and support.
  • Encourage conversations about actions and consequences. Let kids know that positive actions result in positive consequences. Tell them they can make a big impact by using kindness. For example, when one puppet kid is insulted, she responds with a compliment to the bully. This kindness disarms the bully; he cannot respond to her positivity with negativity and more hurtful words.
  • Make a big deal about little acts of kindness. Point out and congratulate even the smallest acts of kindness from your child. Using positive reinforcement can empower your child to spread kindness more often.

Kids on the Block continually encourages young children to be kind through the “Sticks & Stones” presentation. Through puppetry, the students are challenged to create a positive environment in their own school by sharing kindness with one another. Throughout the show the kids learn how everyone is different and how to celebrate those differences instead of teasing others.

After thinking about how it feels to hurt someone’s feelings, Kids on The Block asks each child in the crowd to find three different people and say one nice thing to each. We encourage them find other students or teachers they may not know very well to spread kindness throughout the school.We also would like to take this opportunity to encourage the adults reading this to find three different people to either say something to or do a sweet gesture for.

Helping kids understand differences will also help create empathy and encourage kids to be kind. Check out our kids teaching what diversity means!

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