All Ages

Practica la Amabilidad

Una Guía para Iniciar para las Familia Hispanohablantes

La amabilidad es un músculo. Mientras más lo practica, más crece la compasión de su hijo/a. Al practicar la amabilidad, su familia hará un buen impacto en su comunidad ahora y en los años siguientes mientras su hijo/a se convierte en un adulto/a cariñoso y generoso.

Además, la concentración de su familia en la amabilidad tendrá un impacto oderoso en la salud de su hijo/a. Los investigadores nos dicen que inspirar a nuestros hijos a que ayuden a los demás puede tener beneficios significativos para su salud física y mental.

¿Por qué animar la amabilidad?

Los niños que son enseñados a cuidar a los demás ganan la alegría de ayudar, junto con muchos otros beneficios de salud, incluyendo:

  • Autoestima más alta

  • Menos estrés

  • Más optimismo

  • Más probabilidad de evitar la actividad criminal

  • Más probabilidad de permanecer en la escuela

  • Mejor salud mental

Imprimibles Gratis para Apoyar la Practica de la Amabilidad de su Familia

¡Elija su proyecto favorito para empezar!

¡Manténgase en Contacto!

Deje que get Doing Good Together (Haciendo el Bien Juntos) inspire el próximo acto de amabilidad de su familia. Los siguientes recursos solo están dispuestos en inglés por el momento.

Disclaimer:  Doing Good Together™ is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

The recommendations we offer are based solely on our mission to empower parents to raise children who care and contribute.

4 Elements of a Kindness Practice

Get started with DGT’s big-hearted basics.

Our tools and resources are designed to help you launch a kindness practice with your family.

Not all at once.

Not in an overwhelming way.

The four strategies below will help launch your kindness practice in increments, one simple act, book, or conversation each day.

““A family kindness practice is not simply an occasional volunteer engagement. It’s a way of moving through your busy days with intention, empathy, and wonder.”
— arah Aadland, Big-Hearted Families™ Program Director

Make kindness a priority!

Take a look at your family’s schedule and find a way to build small acts of kindness into the activities you already enjoy.

Give it a try:

2. Read Widely Together

The stories you share offer a great opportunity for big conversations. Through literature, you can explore a range of social issues, emotional states, and personal challenges from your own home and in your own time!

Give it a try:

  • Print and use DGT’s conversation starters for any story.

  • Browse our topical book lists.

  • Read often. Bedtime stories, of course, but also over breakfast, in waiting rooms, and on lazy Saturday mornings. Keep reading long after they learn to read to themselves. In fact, read with your child until they demand you stop, and maybe just a little longer.

3 Reflect Together:

Sparking conversations on your kind acts, books, and experiences teaches kids how to ask big questions, how to make earnest observations, and how to walk in the shoes of another.

Give it a try:

4. Volunteer Together

We come to these last only because volunteer experiences are less frequent.

No matter how often you schedule volunteer events, they will make a huge impact on your children. Some of our member favorites include:

Give it a try:

Disclaimer:  Doing Good Together™ is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

The recommendations we offer are based solely on our mission to empower parents to raise children who care and contribute.

Adopt Everyday Habits

Add heart to your routines with our printable menu!

Our daily routines define our lives. After all, we are what we do day after day.

By adopting one or two simple, caring routines, you'll give your children a strong sense of themselves as helpers. In this way, big-hearted habits empower kids to become thoughtful, engaged citizens throughout their lives.

We’ve created a menu of big-hearted family routines, pairing our favorite habits with the cues that have worked best for members of the DGT Family.

“The less you isolate acts of kindness into their own once-in-a-while calendar slots, the more generosity simply becomes a way of life.”
— Sarah Aadland, Doing Good Together

Don’t feel daunted by the complete list below. You aren’t meant to tackle them all at once!

  • Choose one or two favorites.

  • Use them as inspiration to design your own big-hearted routine.

  • Add or change the routine as your child grows.

By adopting a few, well-timed habits, you may be surprised how easy it is to move from good intentions to positive actions.

Instructions

  • Download and print our Menu of Big-Hearted Habits..

  • Invite your family to browse through the ideas and discuss which ones might work best.

  • Choose one or two routines to adopt.

  • Decide on a reward you can enjoy together after you've reached a goal or milestone. For example, if you stick with your habit for two straight weeks, you may want to take your family out for ice cream or have a dance party together.

Read about it!

Inspire your whole family to live generously with excellent picture books and big-hearted conversation starters. Pick your favorites from our growing list and get started today!

Disclaimer:  Doing Good Together™ is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

The recommendations we offer are based solely on our mission to empower parents to raise children who care and contribute.

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Support Reach Out and Read

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Deploy books to build strong brains.

Join thousands of families nationwide and support programs right in your community by donating books (both new and gently-used), improving literacy-rich waiting rooms, and reading aloud to children at select program sites.

Potential Recipients

Support your local Reach Out and Read affiliate or the national Reach Out and Read program.

What you’ll need

  • Art supplies: Crayons or colored pencils, scissors, clear packing, and tape or laminating paper

Instructions

Learn more about Reach Out and Read!

Your family can support Reach Out and Read in lots of fun ways!

  • Host a virtual book drive (they make it easy!) and build a book oasis.

  • Host a gently-used book drive (as local pandemic conditions allow).

  • Volunteer directly as local opportunities become available.

Reflection

  • In high-poverty communities in the U.S., there is only one book for every 300 children. (In higher-income neighborhoods, there are about 13 books for every child.) Does your family have access to good picture books and chapter books?

  • Is there a favorite book or series you feel especially grateful for?

  • Do you have a favorite reading spot at home? If so, talk about a time when you read there recently. If not, talk about what your dream book oasis might look and feel like.

Resources

Take it further

  • Donate favorite books to a local shelter or children’s hospital.

  • Host a book drive for a shelter or organization in need.

  • Volunteer to read to seniors at a nearby nursing home.

Browse the projects in our Big-Hearted Families Tookit!

Disclaimer:  Doing Good Together™ is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

The recommendations we offer are based solely on our mission to empower parents to raise children who care and contribute.

Start a Family Book Club

Grow big hearts one story at a time.

Grownups have book clubs – why not families? At Doing Good Together we’ve pioneered what we call the Big-Hearted Family Book Club.

We encourage families to pair a book with a related act of service, which means children get to practice kindness and build empathy while also developing a passion for books, conversation, and generosity.

Potential Recipients

Your whole family will benefit from the meaningful time you spend together. The impact of your service work will vary based on the project you choose to pair with your book.

What you’ll need

  • Supplies will vary based on the service project or kindness activity you choose to accompany your book.

Instructions

  • Set time aside for your recurring family book club

  • As a family, browse DGT’s Read with Empathy collection and choose 4 to 6 chapter books or picture books on a variety of topics

  • As a family, browse DGT’s Pick-a-Project collection to discover service project ideas that work with your chosen topics (Hint: all of DGT’s projects feature book titles and/or applicable book lists)

Explore DGT's Book Lists
Global Poverty Books.jpg
Picutre Books that Illuminate Hunger in America
Celebrate Love this Valentine's Day with Books
Seniors & Aging
citizenship - small.jpg
poetry book image.png
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Graphic summary for picture books about death.jpg
Stories to Inspire Imaginations

Reflection

  • Was it difficult to agree on a book or books to read?

  • What do you look for in a service project? Do you prefer crafts that provide comfort or projects that directly fight poverty? Something else?

  • What issues do you want to learn more about as a family? Why? Can you find book titles that speak to that issue?

Resources

Take it further

  • Invite friends, extended family, or neighbors to participate in your Big-Hearted Book Club

  • Share your story of service and reflection with the charitable organization you supported (like the food pantry in our example above). They can use your story to amplify their mission and inspire others to support their work.

Browse the projects in our Big-Hearted Families Tookit!

Disclaimer:  Doing Good Together™ is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

The recommendations we offer are based solely on our mission to empower parents to raise children who care and contribute.

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Become a Community Scientist

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Support scientists with hands-on efforts.

Thanks to smartphones, computers, and evolving technology, you can discover, learn about, and contribute to scientific research projects from anywhere in the world. SciStarter.com creates a shared space where people of all ages can get involved with the scientific process and scientists can crowdsource new data.

Possible recipients

Choose among hundreds of research projects searchable through SciStarter.com. Some are online only. Others get you out into nature. Still others put you to work analyzing results.

What you’ll need

  • Computer and internet access

  • Supplies vary depending on the project you choose

Instructions

  1. Register for a free account with SciStarter.com.

  2. As a family, browse available projects based on location and interest area. Educational projects with extra learning tools are available too.

  3. Choose a project and follow its instructions.

  4. Rate and review the project to inspire other community scientists.

  5. Some projects we recommend include:

Reflection Questions

  • What surprised you about doing citizen science? 

  • How has the experience changed your understanding of what science is or what scientists do?

  • What did you learn about community science? Do you think it is important or exciting? Why or why not?

  • What projects did you find most interesting? What projects did you find least interesting?

  • What project did you select and why? What do you think its impact will be?

  • Once you've completed your project, think of one or two related ideas you are curious about. How would you find the answers to those questions?

  • What are the limitations and possible challenges of engaging science enthusiasts in scientific research?

  • What are the benefits of encouraging everyone to participate in science?

Resources

  • Ruby’s Birds by Mya Thompson
    Join Ruby in discovering the fun of birdwatching, a pastime you can pursue wherever you are! Learn Ruby’s tips for taking nature walks, find out how to spot birds in your neck of the woods, and connect with Celebrate Urban Birds, a community science project at the Cornell Lab.

Take it further

Disclaimer:  Doing Good Together™ is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

The recommendations we offer are based solely on our mission to empower parents to raise children who care and contribute.