Giving and Receiving Genuine Compliments during Kindness Month

Spread kindness by taking time to notice the good in others and giving them a genuine compliment! It's a win-win for all!

Everyone loves to give and receive a genuine compliment during kindness month.  It is a powerful technique used to make new friends.  When practicing with kids, they delightfuly tell others they are nice, which doesn't always fill buckets to their capacity.   In order to make compliments more effective, here are 3 valuable tips you can add while teaching children to be kind. 

 1.  Before giving a compliment, ask yourself 3 things:  Is it kind?  Is it true?  Is it specifiic, detailed, or personalized?  For example, instead of saying, "you are funny," you might say, "you always make me laugh when I feel down."  

2.  When giving a compliment, make sure to look at the person and use a kind tone. 

3.  When receiving a compliment, look at the other person and say thank you with a smile.  

Seems easy enough doesn't it?  Allow children to practice making compliments more detailed, specific or personalized.   Practice using a smile and positive voice tone.  You can also practice by having each child right their name on a piece of paper or heart and allow the class to write one positive comment about each name.   A great valentine activity to promote team building and kindness.  

A quick activity to promote kindness. 1. Instruct children to make a heart and put their name in middle. 2 Teach effective compliment lesson. 3. Give each child about 30 seconds to write a positive comment and then pass to a classmate.

Children enjoy holding the Kind Karen Educator card while practicing this skill.  They understand that kindness is a choice they can make each and every day.  

Click here for helpful videos and books you can use to promote kindness in your school.