June 1st is a day dedicated to simply being kind and boy do we love this day! Sometimes it’s the little things that can help brighten someone’s day; like telling someone they look nice, or asking how someone’s day went, or even saying “I appreciate you”. Say something nice day provides a wonderful opportunity to work on language, especially social language. Here are some fun activities to target word finding, descriptions, synonyms/antonyms, sentence structures, language organization, following directions, turn taking, greetings, and more.
Try a little kindness challenge today
You can make giving a compliment into an entire morning activity. There are so many great books that teach children about what it means to be kind and how to do kind things.
- Help your child learn more about being kind by reading one of our favorite social books (see list below).
- Then, have your child create a list of descriptive words (e.g., smart, kind, funny, helpful, lovable, lovable, respectful, etc.) and compliments that would make them or someone they know feel good.
- Talk about why these words and compliments would make them or someone else feel happy, think about certain people that would appreciate each compliment you come up with.
- Once you have your list of compliments, pick five people (family, friends, teachers, strangers) that your child can share these compliments with. They can do this by sending an email, mailing a letter, or making a phone call.
- Can’t send something to someone? Make pictures and/or signs with compliments or words of affirmation and hang them in your window for people to see as they walk by your house!
Want to encourage more kindness around the house?
Have your kids create a kindness jar! Have your children color positive pictures and write compliments or words of affirmation on pieces of paper and/or popsicle sticks. Once you are done, fill up a jar with those papers and/or popsicle sticks and leave it for family members to take when they feel they need a pick me up. Challenge your children to replace the note each time they take one so that the jar is always full.
Don’t forget to check out some of our favorite social books!
Elephant and Piggie Series by Mo Willems
K is for Kindness by Jodie Shepherd
Horton Hears a Who by Dr. Seuss
Kindness is Cooler, Mrs. Ruler by Margery Cuyler
Try a Little Kindness by Henry Cole
A Little Spot of Kindness by Diane Alber
Clark the Shark by Bruce Hale
Spaghetti in a Hot Dog Bun by Maria Dismondy
Some Monsters are Different by David Milgrim
Be Kind! by Pat Zietlow Miller
Du Unto Otters by Laurie Keller
The Kindness Book by Todd Parr
