Today is Random Acts of Kindness Day.  So… perform a few random acts of kindness- hold the door open for a stranger, let someone go ahead of you in line at the store, pay the coffee for the person behind you at Starbucks, give a compliment–the ideas are endless.  See if you can “pay it forward” and make today a great day!  Here are a few great ideas for the kids:

• Go to a children’s zoo or a park where feeding animals is allowed. Offer a bag of food to another family to feed the animals.
• Bake cookies together, and take them to a neighbor .
• Pitch in and clean up the yard of a neighbor who is ill, has had surgery recently, or has had a family emergency.
• Walk to a nearby park and pick up trash, then have a picnic there.
• Bake a treat and take it to a police or firefighter station.
• Arrange to plant flowers or a tree at a school or park on a Saturday morning.
• Have each member of your family choose someone outside the family who has made a positive difference in his or her life.
• Write short thank-you notes, and mail the letters together.
• Discuss the best things about the area where you live, the best places to shop and have fun, etc. Have someone take notes. Then type up the ideas to give to new neighbors who move in.
• Leave a bouquet of flowers on a neighbor’s front step anonymously.
• Make some small gifts or write kindness wishes and drawings on bright greeting cards. Deliver them in person to residents of a nursing home, children’s home, or senior facility.
• Collect stories from family members about kind acts both given and received, and create a family scrapbook. If you have photos, include them with the stories. As years go by and as your children grow, all of you can review the many ways that kindness has touched your family’s life.
• Tape a lunch bag to each family member’s door. For a week, put a daily treat or note inside for them to find when they wake up in the morning.