BEST OF DGT™ 2017
Happy New Year! This month, we're proud to present the "Best of DGT 2017." We believe our work to empower parents to raise kind, thoughtful, engaged children will be more critical than ever in 2018. This work feels essential, in fact, with our civil discourse so focused on division and fear.
The ideas and links below represent some of our favorites among all the unique materials, programs, and activities we're continuously generating to make it fun and easy for parents, youth leaders, and educators to pass along the values of compassion and kindness. Check out our picks below, and be sure to subscribe to our blog, newsletter, and/or volunteer listing service so you can easily find all the good we create in 2018.
Wishing you all more peace, more love, more kindness, and more joy in 2018.
-Jenny Friedman, Executive Director
Our 2017 Best Picks
Make a Difference...
"Shop Kind" program. DGT's Shop Kind webpage is a curated list of kindness-themed products for kids and families. The list can save you time as you seek to make 2018 more big-hearted. The ideas also make great gifts -- and teach generosity rather than consumption.
A great video. Our Family Service Fair model has been a consistent way to introduce families to "giving back" in a fun, festive setting. Now these fairs are becoming regular fare in the Miami-Dade public elementary schools, thanks to a pilot program funded by the Albert H. and Jane D. Nahmad Foundation. Check out the awesome video (shown on right) to see some inspiring goodwill from students, parents, and staff. Six more Miami schools will be added to the program in 2018.
New kindness projects. So many projects, so little time! We added some awesome new activities to engage your family in kindness, including Design and Share Tear-Off Posters, Car Window Poetry, and compassion as a way of life. These are great "on ramp" ideas to help you talk about and act on kindness in 2018.
More reflection. DGT has always emphasized the critical importance of reflecting with children about giving and serving. As you embrace each new volunteer opportunity, read our Little Lessons for Big-Hearted Families. It's a new feature of our city listings of local volunteer opportunities. You will find facts, children's books, and conversation starters about critical issues like hunger, homelessness, and caring for the earth.
Fabulous partnerships. DGT is proud of the organizations that have asked us to collaborate in the Twin Cities and around the country. Recently, we have been working with the Harvard Graduate School of Education's Making Caring Common program, Thrivent Financial, Miami-Dade Public Schools, Kinderberry, the Iowa Commission on Service, Minnesota Boychoir, Willis Foundation, Twin Cites-based Goddard Schools, and more. If we can help your business, school, child care center, faith community, nonprofit or other kind of group integrate kindness and giving into its work with families, please contact us.
Nurture Engagement & Empathy
TALK ABOUT IT...
We can't emphasize enough the importance of having big conversations with the little people in your life. Check out our best discussion-provoking blogs of 2017. You'll see ideas for road tripping, civil discourse, and talking about grief, death and loss..
LEARN ABOUT IT...
DGT continually offers new recommendations for using literacy to build your children's empathy muscles. We added several new "best of" book collections in 2017, including ones based on the theme of winter holidays, poetry, and death & grief. You'll also find cut-out conversation cards for any story to encourage empathy and compassion-building.
Inspiration
"Do one act of kindness each day of the year and change 365 lives."
-A.D. Williams, Canadian author