Countdown to Christmas

Earlier this week, I shared some of my favorite Advent Calendars from across the interwebs. Today, I’m going to share a meaningful activity that will inspire the whole family to focus on the spirit of the season.

Last month I was thinking about our family’s Advent activities, and realizing so many of our traditions are focused on the fun of the season, like decorating and baking. I wanted to instill more traditions focused on showing love and giving back. The result is a family activity that adds Random Acts of Kindness (ROAK) to our Advent countdown to Christmas, and it has been such a rewarding and inspiring tradition for our family.

I created cards with ROAK prompts that we can tuck in our Advent Calendar or pull out of a jar each day.

I made more than 30 kindness prompts so we would have plenty to choose from. I also included  a few blank cards so we could fill in new ideas as we go!

We’ve already gotten a good head start! So far we’ve…

Donated new toys to Toys for Tots…

Written letters to loved ones…

Donated books to the library…

Were a friend to someone at school…

Put candy canes in the windshields of cars at the grocery store, and…

Plugged quarters into the shopping carts at Aldi.

As you can see, I’ve also made printable cards to leave behind each time we complete an activity.

It’s so exciting as a mom to see the kids really get into this! We like to think about our recipients and how they will react when they get that extra cash we tucked into our Redbox return, or that encouraging sticky note we put in our returned library book. We wonder if our message hit them at a moment they needed it most, and if they will decide to pass on the act of kindness.

What’s been amazing is the change I’ve seen in the kids after just a few days. I’m seeing unprompted acts of kindness among the kids at home that were not happening even last week! I’m not saying they’ve turned into angels overnight, let’s be real here, but I will say that experiencing the joy of being kind seems to have a lasting, tangible effect for them.

Do you like this idea for your family and want to join in? I’m making the Random Acts of Kindness Printables, both prompts and leave-behind cards, for my subscribers!

>>CLICK HERE TO ACCESS 30+ RAOK PROMPTS + HANDOUTS<<

What random act of kindness have you personally shared, or had someone do for you? Or, do you have ideas I should add to my list?  I’d love it if you filled up my comments with lots of awesome ideas for sharing the love!