The kindness activities anchor chart is a great way to define kindness in the preschool classroom. Kindness is a really important concept that really needs to be addressed consistently throughout the year and across all preschool themes.
#PLAYfulpreschool kindness activities
By my definition, an anchor chart is basically a written reference for children. Such charts help children to learn about a specific topic, and they often include examples and pictures. Many anchor charts are made by teachers, but I thought involving the students would be more meaningful.
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Materials we used
Chart paper
Magazines
Photos of our class through the year
Directions
Write down a simple definition of kindness. I wrote, “What is Kindness? Kindness is when we are friendly, thoughtful, and generous.” The kiddos and I have talked about being kindness many times – how it means we’re being a friend by helping, how we are thinking of other people, and how we can share our time (and take turns with classroom toys).
Call the children over, in small groups or individually. Engage in a conversation about kindness. Some possible questions to ask the children:
- What does it mean to be kind?
- What does a kind friend do?
- Can you tell me about being kind and thoughtful?
Next, ask the children to find examples of kindness. This can be done by looking through magazines, going through class/family pictures, and leafing through books. In the case of magazines and photos, have children cut out kindness examples and glue the pictures to the chart.
Ask the children, “What do you see that’s kind in this picture? How is he/she being kind here?” Record the children’s thoughts on the chart.
Once the chart is all done, be sure to hang it up where the kiddos can reference it! If there are unkind words or actions, use the chart to help bring the children’s attentions back to what kindness means.
More kindness activities
Not all of the kiddos in my class were interested in helping to make the anchor chart. That’s okay, because I know that they’ll learn about being kind in other ways. Here are more ideas for talking with kids about kindness:
- Read books that illustrate what it means to be kind, as well as what it means to be unkind. Books can be great examples and lead to some in-depth discussions with young children.
- Act out examples of being kind! I’ve found that preschoolers usually enjoy role playing. Humor tends to be an important part of it, especially if I’m the one being unkind and they have to tell me the better choices to make!
Check out the rest of the #PLAYfulpreschool’s kindness activities over at The Educators’ Spin On It.
Done-for-You Preschool Resources
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Great idea – Discuss, write, add pictures! Will be doing soon with my kiddos. They need a kindness reminder this week!
I love that each child was able to contribute thoughts and photos about kindness. What a great chart/collage about acts of kindness. Love it!
I love the images and quotes! What a great
What a brilliant idea – and I’ve learnt what an anchor chart is. I see them being used in my daughters preschool classroom a lot and they are fantastic resource for the kids as well as a great insight for parents to see as they pick up and drop off the children.
Excellent idea! It makes an abstract concept like kindness so much more concrete when you give it a visual representation like this!
I love meaningful anchor charts!