Random Act of Kindness Incentive Program

This school year I started a program called "Random Act of Kindness" to encourage students to be kinder. With so much negativity in our world, I wanted to help children focus on helping others. Each week they report to me a random act of kindness they did for someone else during the last 7 days. For example, one child might say, "I helped my mom wash the dishes." or "I took the trash out." I encourage them to do something for someone without being asked to do it. I tell them that they should listen to what their parents tell them to do, but that a random act of kindness is when you do something for someone without them asking you to do it. I encourage them to surprise someone.

At the beginning of the year, I made a chart with suggestions on it as to random acts of kindness they might do. My chart lists things such as "Say thank you to the custodian or lunch ladies." "Give your teacher a gift and surprise her." "Pick up paper towels in the bathroom."

As a music teacher, I only see the students once per week. For each random act of kindness they name, I give them a point. At the end of the grading period, the class with the most points gets an extra recess. They love it! Regular classroom teachers could do this on a particular day of the week, perhaps Friday.

This activity is great for ALL teachers to help foster a more kind and caring environment in our schools.

Attached is an audio file of the song I wrote to go along with this program. Below is a list of simple dance steps you can do with the song. Have fun!

Random Act of Kindness

Dance- you can use the dance steps below or make up your own.

Chorus

1. “You’ve got to do a “(Cross one arm in front of your body then the other arm overtop to the beat of the music.)

1. “Random act of Kindness.” (On “dom” of “random,” put one hand on one hip, then the other hand on the other hip on the word “kindness.”)

1. “Make someone’s day.” (Sweep both hands upward in front of your face, crossing hands briefly over your head, then pushing them outward in opposite directions and down with your fingers wriggling like sunbeams.)

4) “You’ve got to do a Random Act of Kindness.” (Same as steps 1 and 2.)

5) “Put a smile on someone’s face.” (Sweep both hands up in front of your mouth then outward and down with your palms facing up.)

For the verses, step side to side with arm rolls.

On the words, “Its not hard to do; it’s all up to you!” Freeze in place with arms at your sides and palms facing to the front.