Practice Kindness

Encouraging a child to practice kindness is a fast and free way to boost their mental health. Our 5-Day Kindness Challenge gives kids and their families fun, simple ways to show generosity and consideration to themselves and those around them. Together, we can spread kindness one small act at a time.
Children sit around a classroom table completing kindness activities while a teacher holds educational materials; posters about feelings, kindness, and classroom expectations are displayed on the wall.

Be Kind to your Mind

We know children’s mental health benefits from positive social connections. We also know that the opposite is true; children who experience bullying, exclusion and isolation are at risk for mental health concerns. This is why encouraging kindness can be so important for children’s mental health. Kindness is what mental health professionals call a “prosocial behavior,” or an action we take to help or benefit others. Kindness can help kids build empathy, create and maintain healthy relationships, and help develop a sense of community.

Research shows that kindness toward ourselves and others helps our mental health. It can:

  • ✓ Increase feelings of happiness
  • ✓ Reduce stress
  • ✓ Improve self-esteem

Bonus tip: Make kindness a habit in your family to help with lasting mental health benefits. Start with our 5-day challenge and then come up with ways to keep it going!

Take the Kindness Challenge

Kindness Kits for Classrooms

BEST SUITED FOR ELEMENTARY-AGED STUDENTS

You can deliver kindness to classrooms and schools across the country. For every $30 donation, we will send a Kindness Kit to a classroom in the U.S.

The kit includes:

  • 📚 Lesson Plan – multiple activities to help teachers build a more inclusive and welcoming classroom community
  • 🖼️ Classroom poster to encourage the class to see their acts of kindness
  • ⭐ 30 Kids Mental Health Foundation stickers
  • 💌 30 Kindness Cards – to help children write kind notes to others

Sponsor a Classroom

$30 provides a full kit to a school in need.

Donate a Kit

Are you an Educator or employed by a school?

Request Kindness Kits for your classroom or school provided by our generous donors.

Request a Kit
"The Kindness Kits gave me an opening to introduce a safe zone and also educated students on what others may be struggling with that they are not aware of." — 5th Grade Teacher

Additional Ways to Show Kindness

Looking for additional ways to show your support and spread kindness?

 

Close-up of five hands wearing colorful beaded friendship bracelets, joined together in a fist bump over a vibrant woven background, symbolizing unity, creativity, and youth connection.

Friendship Bracelet Fundraiser

Start a Friendship Bracelet Fundraiser to spread kindness and raise vital support for the Kids Mental Health Foundation. We make it easy with a step-by-step guide, ready-to-use templates, and more!

Learn More →
Colorful friendship bracelet designs with beaded words 'Be Kind,' 'Mental Health,' and 'Hype Friend' against a bright yellow background with peace signs, hearts, and suns. Promotes kindness and youth mental health awareness.

Ashley Eckstein Friendship Bracelet Set

Shop our Ashley Eckstein Friendship Bracelet Set for a meaningful way to champion kids’ mental health. Wear one proudly to show your support and share the others to spark connection and kindness with those around you.

Shop Now →

References

https://www.apa.org/news/apa/kindness-mental-health 

https://www.cedars-sinai.org/blog/science-of-kindness.html 

Curry, O. S., Rowland, L. A., Van Lissa, C. J., Zlotowitz, S., McAlaney, J., & Whitehouse, H. (2018). Happy to help? A systematic review and meta-analysis of the effects of performing acts of kindness on the well-being of the actor. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 76, 320-329.

Hui, B. P., Ng, J. C., Berzaghi, E., Cunningham-Amos, L. A., & Kogan, A. (2020). Rewards of kindness? A meta-analysis of the link between prosociality and well-being. Psychological Bulletin, 146(12), 1084.

Marsh, I. C., Chan, S. W., & MacBeth, A. (2018). Self-compassion and psychological distress in adolescents—a meta-analysis. Mindfulness, 9(4), 1011-1027.

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