Ideas for Kindness

Share your Kindness Tips & Stories

Find kindness tips below to get you started. Have your own idea? Share a tip or story and you just might make our list.

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Tell us your kindness story or tip, or describe how someone was kind to you:

1. Bake cookies for sharing.
2. Wipe rainwater off shopping carts or hold umbrellas for shoppers on the way to their cars.
3. Bring flowers to work and share them with coworkers.
4. Pay it forward.
5. Adopt a student who needs a friend, checking in periodically to see how things are going.
6. Volunteer to be a tutor in a school.
7. Use spare change to top up an expired parking meter and possibly save someone from getting a parking ticket! - Jennifer
8. Extend a hand to someone in need. Give your full attention and simply listen.
9. Merchants can donate a percentage of receipts for the week to a special cause.
10. Bring coworkers a special treat.
11. Students can clean classrooms for the custodian.
12. Buy a stranger a free pizza.
13. One winter, our neighbour Bruce went up the roof of our old cottage to clean the snow off the roof for us while we were at home in Quebec. Another time, he went under water in his wetsuit to connect the water line from the lake to our house. We couldn't believe what he did as the lake was frozen with ice on top. We are grateful to have someone like him as our neighbour! - Prom
14. Distribute lollipops to kids.
15. Sing at a nursing home.
16. Offer a couple of hours of baby-sitting to parents.
17. Slip paper hearts that say “It’s Kindness Friday! Have a great day!” under the windshield wipers of parked cars.
18. Have a charity day at work, with employees bringing non-perishable food items to donate.
19. Offer to snowblow or shovel paths that lead into retirement homes or palliative care centres. - Mike
20. Serve refreshments to customers.
21. Draw names at school or work, and have people bring a small gift or food treat for their secret pal.
22. Reach out to those in need.
23. Remember the bereaved with phone calls, cards, plants, and food.
24. Pay someone a compliment at least once a day.
25. Call or visit a homebound person.
26. Hand out balloons to passersby.
27. Give free sodas to motorists.
28. Everytime you do groceries, buy 3 items to donate to a food drive. - Rachel
29. Be a good neighbor. Take over a baked treat or stop by to say “Hello.”
30. Transport someone who can’t drive.
31. Mow a neighbor’s lawn.
32. Say something nice to everyone you meet today.
33. Send a treat to a school or day-care centre.
34. Volunteer at an agency that needs help.
35. When drivers try to merge into your lane, let them in with a wave and a smile.
36. Write a note to the boss of someone who has helped you, praising the employee.
37. Accidentally left my lights on - not one but 3 people went out of their way and took the time to help me out on a very cold Friday night! Thank you and I promise to pay it forward in kindness 3 times! - Wendy
38. Send home a note telling parents something their child did well.
39. Adopt a homeless pet at the humane society.
40. Organize a scout troop or service club to help people with packages at the mall or grocery.
41. Host special programs or speakers at libraries or bookstores.
42. Offer to answer the phone for the school secretary for ten minutes.
43. Volunteer to read to students in the classroom.
44. Grade 8 students at École publique Le Sommet are busy with lots of kindness activities. To name but a few, they are making homemade flower pins for seniors, delivering a fresh-brewed cup of coffee to staff with a Timbit and kindness message, and sending lollipops with kindness messages to students at a nearby elementary school. - Dany
45. Write notes of appreciation and bring flowers or goodies to teachers or other important people, such as the principal, nurse, custodian, and secretary.
46. Incorporate kindness into the curriculum at area schools, day care centres, or children’s classes in faith organizations.
47. Give a hug to a friend.
48. Tell your children why you love them.
49. Write a note to your mother/father and tell them why they are special.
50. Pat someone on the back.
51. Bring extra mittens to share with kids who have lost theirs. - Alison
52. Write a thank-you note to a mentor or someone who has influenced your life in a positive way.
53. Let the person behind you in the grocery store go ahead of you in line.
54. Collect goods for the food bank.
55. Pay for the meal of the person behind you in the drive-through.
56. Visit hospitals with smiles, treats, and friendly conversation for patients.
57. Stop by a nursing home, and visit a resident with no family nearby.
58. Plant flowers in your neighbor’s flower box.
59. Give free car washes.
60. Leave a treat or handmade note of thanks for a delivery person or mail carrier.
61. Show appreciation to others
62. After my father passed away, my co-worker Pauline would always be there with hugs and Kleenex when I needed it. What really touched my heart were the many days when, without saying a word, she would quietly sneak into my office and place a cup of hot tea on my desk. - Shantie
63. Clean graffiti from neighborhood walls and buildings.
64. Tell your boss that you think he/she does a good job.
65. Tell your employees how much you appreciate their work.
66. Let your staff leave work an hour early.
67. Have a clean-up party in the park.
68. Tell a bus or taxi driver how much you appreciate their driving.
69. Have everyone in your office draw the name of an “acts of kindness buddy” out of a hat and do a kind act for their buddy that day or week.
70. Greta Leeming Studio of Dance is collecting non-perishable food items for the Ottawa Food Bank and teaching a great lesson in kindness! - Tami-Lynn
71. Give a pair of tickets to a baseball game or concert to a stranger.
72. Leave an extra big tip for the waitperson.
73. Drop off a plant, cookies, or donuts to the police or fire department.
74. Hold the door for others.
75. Donate blood.
76. Share a smile with a stranger.
77. Leave a bouquet of flowers on the desk of a colleague at work with whom you don’t normally get along.
78. Call an estranged family member.
79. I was having a very hard time getting out of a parking lot and merging into traffic. The CBC newstruck very kindly stopped and let me in. - Sara
80. Volunteer to fix up an elderly couple’s home.
81. Pay for the person behind you in the movie line.
82. Give flowers to be delivered with meal delivery programs.
83. Give toys to the children at the shelter or safe house.
84. Give friends and family kindness coupons they can redeem for kind favors.
85. Be a friend to a new student or coworker.
86. Renew an old friendship by sending a letter or small gift to someone you haven’t talked with in a long time.
87. For one week, act on every single thought of generosity that arises spontaneously in your heart, and notices what happens as a consequence.
88. Offer to return a shopping cart to the store for someone loading a car.
89. Invite someone new over for dinner.
90. At a restaurant, write a card of thanks and leave it with your tip. Be sure to be specific in your thanks.
91. Shovel a neighbour’s driveway.
92. Pay for the coffee of the person behind you.
93. Donate time at a retirement or nursing home.
94. Buy cold drinks for the people next to you at a ball game.
95. Distribute kindness bookmarks that you have made.
96. Create a craft project or build a bird house with a child.
97. Give a bag of groceries to a homeless person.
98. Laugh out loud often and share your smile generously.
99. Plant a tree in your neighborhood.
100. Make a list of things to do to bring more kindness into the world, and have a friend make a list. Exchange lists and do one item per day for a month.
101. Use an instant camera to take people’s photographs at a party or community event, and give the picture to them.
102. As you go about your day, pick up trash.
103. Send a letter to some former teachers, letting them know the difference they made in your life.
104. Send a gift anonymously to a friend.
105. Organize a clothing drive for a shelter.
106. Buy books for a day care or school.
107. Slip a $20 bill to a person who you know is having financial difficulty.
108. Take an acquaintance to dinner.
109. Offer to take a friend’s child to ball practice.
110. Waive late fees for the week.