Try a Nature Scavenger Hunt

Explore the outdoors with our printable checklist!

When children learn to appreciate and enjoy nature, they are more likely to grow into adults who value and protect our environment.

That’s why we've gathered great clues for a scavenger hunt to liven up your next walk in the woods. Pack a picnic, lace up your hiking boots, and head outside to explore.

Possible recipients

Click here to print your scavenger hunt.

Enjoy exploring nature as a family, invite friends along, or bring this activity to your scout’s meeting, classroom, or community gathering.

What you’ll need

• Our printable Nature Scavenger Hunt

• Crayons, colored pencils, or markers

Optional — and fun! — additions to take it further

• Create a family “nature box” or “nature table” to collect and display objects you find.

• Keep a nature notebook. Include photos, drawings, pressed flowers, and notes to record your outdoor observations.

• Gather some “tools” to take on your outings: camera, magnifying glass, binoculars, insect net, or jars for (briefly) capturing insects.

• Have your children devise their own scavenger hunts for the family.

• Laminate this list so you can reuse it with dry-erase markers.

Record outdoor observations in a nature notebook

Use binoculars and other tools to enhance your experience

Briefly capture insects for a closer look (great for outside and inside!)

Instructions

• Modify our list to fit your scene (park, nature center, woods, seashore, backyard, etc.)

• Color in items as you go or draw/write about your discoveries in the blank boxes.

• For very young kids, consider filling in the blank boxes with items you think they will enjoy finding.

• For older kids, consider downloading the iNaturalist app and encourage them to use the app to help identify the plants, trees, tracks, and creatures they discover.

Reflections

• Talk about your hunt:

  • Which item was your favorite?

  • Which was most difficult to find?

  • Which did you find first?

  • What senses did you use on your hunt? What did you smell in nature? Feel? Hear?

• Albert Einstein, famed theoretical physicist, once said, “Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.” What do you think he meant?

• How does your body feel when you are spending time in nature? How does your mind feel?

Resources

• Frederick by Leo Lionni
  This Caldecott-Honor winning book reminds us how important it can be to stop and appreciate nature.

• The Greening Book by Ellen Sabin
  Full of unique activities and exercises, The Greening Book teaches children that they can make a difference in the future of our planet.

• Fun with Nature and More Fun with Nature (Take Along Guides) both by Mel Boring, Diane Burns, and Leslie Dendy
  Kids will love learning about the most common creatures, tracks, and trees they're likely to encounter in North America. These books will turn every trip to the park into a scavenger hunt!

See our growing Nature Lovers book list!

• Encourage the next generation of outdoor adventurers with picture books to inspire nature lovers
  Nothing inspires wonder, cultivates mindfulness, and relieves stress as effectively and enjoyably as time spent in nature. Encourage the wilderness enthusiast in your child with this growing list of stories.

• You may also enjoy our collection of picture books for young environmental advocates and our collection of picture books for citizen scientists.

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.

Cultivate a Gratitude Garden

Turn gratitude into a beautiful display!

By taking the time to notice and appreciate good things in your life, you'll teach children to cultivate gratitude all year round. Use our gratitude garden printable below, create your own gratitude tree, or dream up your own display!

What you’ll need

• Our printable template for a Gratitude Garden sign, and for our flower petals.

• A variety of beautiful paper. Magazines, reused wrapping paper, or newspaper print work, as well as construction and scrapbook paper.

• Recycled container for your garden – a tin can is perfect, a cracker box with the top half cut off works well too.

• Markers

• Glue or tape

• Buttons, fabric, pipe cleaners, or other embellishments

Instructions

Click here to print.

Click here to print.

• Print our templates.

• Decorate the gratitude fence and glue or tape it to your base.

• Cut simple petal shapes out of your favorite decorative paper.

• Cut stems in various lengths (6” to 12”) out of repurposed cereal or pasta boxes.

• Reflect: what are you grateful for? Write one thing on each petal.

• Place your garden somewhere nearby, along with any leftover petals and stems. Remember to add to it from time to time, perhaps after family dinner or during a weekend morning over coffee and cocoa.

Reflection

•  As quickly as you can, list 20 things you are grateful for.

• List one thing you are grateful for that indulges each of your senses.

• List something you are grateful for in every season (or month).

• Why is it so easy to forget the many things we are grateful for when we discover something new that we desperately want?

• How can we remind ourselves to be satisfied with the good things already in our lives?

• What if we woke up tomorrow and only had the things we expressed gratitude for today? What should we be sure to add to our gratitude garden?

Resources

Browse the books in Doing Good Together’s picture books to inspire gratitude for your next family favorite!

• Thank You Letter by Jane Cabrera
  After getting into the spirit of writing thank you notes for her birthday gifts, Grace decided to keep going. Watch what happens as she shares her thank you notes all over town. For anyone who wonders what thankfulness in action looks like, this sweet story will be an inspiration.

• Thank You, Omu! by Oge Mora
  This story is a bit like Stone Soup in reverse. Omu (pronounced Ah-moo) creates a stew so tasty, that her neighbors can’t help but ask for a bowl. Her gracious giving leaves Omu with an empty pot at dinner time. But don’t worry, her generosity hasn’t gone unnoticed! This beautiful story is full of opportunities to talk about giving, gratitude, and how we can show appreciation for those around us.Take it further

Take it further

• Create Gratitude Kits and share appreciation on the go.

• Decorate Big-Hearted Awards for unsung community heroes.

• Revisit this popular DGT article, Active Gratitude: Family Traditions for Kinder, Less Entitled, More Generous Kids.

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.

Create & Share Car Window Poetry

Spread poetry and smiles!

Tap into your family’s creativity and share simple messages of inspiration, hope, and joy.

Potential Recipients

Tuck your poetry under the car window wipers wherever you happen to be.

What you’ll need

• This template from our friends at Car Window Poetry, available here (or create your own!)

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

Instructions

Hear one family’s story of this project in action here.

• Create short, heart-warming poems, jokes, or artwork. You may want to use the free Car Window Poetry cards available here.

• Place your poems on car windows outside your school, playground, library, a busy grocery store, or wherever you happen to be. Note: if it's raining or remarkably windy, postpone this step a bit.

• Post your poems on Instagram with the #CarWindowPoetry. While you're at it, kindly add #DoingGoodTogether as well!

Reflection

• What kind of words, pictures, and ideas make us smile? Feel hopeful? Feel brave?

• What can we share that might cheer up other people if they’re having a hard day?

• How would you feel if you found a note like this in our car?

• Can we target this project? Who in our community could use some extra encouragement? Can we think of any organizations we might want to support (nurses at a local clinic, teachers at a local school)?

Resources

Browse the lists in Doing Good Together’s picturebook poetry collection for your next family favorite!

• Lend a Hand: Poems about Giving by John Frank.
  So much good is captured in the pages of this book. Kind acts of children are captured in the thoughtful, observant way only poetry can accomplish.

• Dictionary for a Better World: Poems, Quotes, and Anecdotes from A to Z by Irene Latham and Charles Waters
  This collection of poetry overflows with opportunities to launch big-hearted conversations.

Take it further

• Write poems to share with friends or neighbors in need of cheering up.

• Use poetry to inspire big-hearted conversations and critical thinking with these tools for educators from the National Poetry Foundation.

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.

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.

• Inscribase en el Volunteer listings, Newsletter, and blog.

• Únase a nuestro grupo de Facebook para conectar con otros padres con ideas afines.

• Síganos en Facebook, Twitter, & Instagram.

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.

Click here to print both pages in English.

Imprimir en español.

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.

Create a Kindness Quilt Display

Celebrate good deads and grow empathy muscles!

Research confirms that accountability is a key way to foster new habits and reach difficult goals. By letting your family know that kindness and helping others is a priority, you’re setting high expectations for follow-through.

This project pairs perfectly with The Kindness Quilt by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace. As you'll see in the book, taking time to focus on everyday acts of kindness makes us all strive to do more.

Create your own “kindness quilt” with DGT’s Kindness Quilt printable, or set up your own creative display of kindness.

---

Get creative! Your squares can become a quilt, a banner, a bulletin board, or a collage! Use them to inspire kids to notice the kindness they give and receive.

What you’ll need

• Choose your printable:

  • Small “Kindness Is…” squares

  • Large “Kindness Is…” squares

• Colored pencils, crayons, or pens

• Scissors

• Painter’s Tape

• Colored paper and glue (optional)

Instructions

• First, read the book The Kindness Quilt by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace. Watch what happens when Mrs. Cooper challenges her students to share acts of kindness and depict them in drawings! Don't let the cute, simple design of this book fool you. Children will be excited to make their own display!

• Choose large squares for younger kids or art enthusiasts or small squares for large groups and older kids.

• Cut apart the squares.

• Place squares and drawing supplies where your kids can easily grab them. 

• Create space on your wall to display your quilt squares as you draw on them.

• Choose a time of day to regularly spend a few minutes talking about kindness.

• Try to answer the following questions:

·   How did you share kindness today?

·   How did your action make you feel?

·   How do you think it made others feel?

·   How did someone help you today?

• If you’re feeling crafty, embellish your quilt squares. Like Minna in our story, gather scrap paper and glue to create backgrounds. Then tape them on your wall to create a quilt just like in the story.

Reflection Questions

• After a few days of adding to your quilt, ask: Did you enjoy focusing on kindness? Should we continue adding to our quilt?

• Do you find it easier to recognize (and be thankful for) the kindness others do for you when you know you'll be talking about kind acts later with your family?

• Can we brainstorm a list of new kindness ideas you might want to try?

Resources

Click here for this growing list!

• The Three Questions by Jon J. Muth
  Based on a short story by Leo Tolstoy, The Three Questions is the story of a little boy’s quest to discover the secret to being a good person.

• I Can Make a Difference: A Treasury to Inspire Our Children by Margaret Wright Edelman
  This collection is exceptional with a wonderful combination of stories, poetry, and art. The works in this treasury do not simply teach and inspire. They are literary jewels, beautiful in and of themselves, making them a delight savor with your children.

Take it Further

• To keep a daily focus on kindness, print a stack of our Pithy Placemats, now in several new versions. They help bring big-hearted conversations to every family meal.

• Commit to a monthly family act of kindness tailored to book lovers like you. Send books each month to a child in need of reading materials with our Feed Hungry Minds project.

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

Click here for the planning worksheet!

• Print DGT’s Big-Hearted Book Club planning tool or use a blank sheet of paper.

• 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)

---

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

• Invite friends or neighbors to participate in your family’s big-hearted book club.

• Consider working with a local organization for several months in a row. For example, if you support your local food pantry, you could host a food drive one month, assemble birthday bags one month, and repackage rice and beans one month to make a difference in lots of different ways as you learn about hunger.

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.

Plant a Row for the Hungry

Dedicate a row of your garden to a local food shelf.

Everyone enjoys fresh produce. Help struggling families in your community by sharing your bounty. 

Possible Recipients

Your local food pantry, soup kitchen, or deserving neighbors and friends. Learn more about the Garden Writer’s Association Plant a Row for the Hungry initiative.

What you’ll need

• A garden

• A bag or box to carry your freshly picked goods

• Optional: card-making materials

Instructions

Get inspired by this popular DGT article.

• Call your local food pantry or soup kitchen to make sure they can accept your donation. AmpleHarvest.org offers a simple tool to find the nearest food pantry.

• Plant one row in your garden that you plan to donate.

• When it’s ready, harvest your produce.

• If you’d like, attach a card saying something like, “From the garden of ___“ or “Fresh to you! Enjoy!”

• Deliver to the nonprofit or to a friend or neighbor in need. If you choose a food pantry, ask about getting a tour.

Reflections

• Why is it important to eat fresh fruits and vegetables?

• Why might it be difficult for those with limited resources to get fresh produce?

• How would it feel if you had to get your food from a food pantry?

• What other ways can you share healthy, fresh foods with others?

Resources

Click here for this growing list.

• The Little Gardener by Emily Hughes
  Through gorgeous illustrations and elegant text, Hughes introduces us to the hopes and frustrations of the littlest gardener. There is so much to love in this little story and its fairy-tale-style celebration of persistence, teamwork, and – of course – tending nature.

• Simply in Season by Cathleen Hockman-Wert and Mary Beth Lind
  Dozens of recipes and information about eating with the seasons.

Take it further

• If you don’t have room to garden in your backyard, reserve a plot in a community garden. Get to know your neighbors and share your harvest!

• If there’s not a community garden nearby, start your own. Get neighbors and friends to join in.

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 an Upcycle Bin

Repurpose would-be waste into craft supplies.

Create space in your home to store items that either can’t be recycled or can easily be repurposed before being recycled. Then encourage your children to use their imaginations, turning this would-be waste into something new.

Teaching our children to care for the earth is integral to teaching compassion. And as the complicated challenges of climate change and waste management demand global attention, the planet's health will be front and center in kids' lives. Here is one small, fun way your family can learn to become earth advocates.

Possible recipients

Get started with this quick video.

Encourage your family to get creative with clean, would-be waste materials, either as silly craft projects or as creations with clever new purposes.

What you’ll need

Click here to download and decorate a sign for your upcycle bin.

• Our printable Upcycle Bin label

• Crayons, colored pencils, or markers

• Box or spare laundry basket

• Duct tape

Instructions

• First, decorate your poster.

• Add three ideas for upcycled creations in the three blank spaces. Get inspired with our Kids Can Upcycle! Pinterest board.

• Attach your poster to a large cardboard box.

• Add a roll of duct tape.

• Add unrecyclable plastics and other clean items you would otherwise toss whenever possible.

• When you’re feeling crafty, create something new from the materials you gather!

Reflections

• Can we think of some ways to use less plastic as a family? Let's make a list!

• What are some things our family is already doing to conserve earth's resources and keep the planet clean?

Resources

Click here for the complete book list!

Browse our growing collection of picture books for earth advocates.

• The Greening Book by Ellen Sabin
  Full of unique activities and exercises, The Greening Book teaches children that they can make a difference in the future of our planet.

• What a Waste: Trash, Recycling, and Protecting our Planet by Jess French
  Informative, engaging, and eye-opening, this book introduces elementary-aged kids to the idea that nothing can ever be truly thrown “away.” Walk away with strategies to conserve resources at home and the inspiration to stick with those strategies.

Take it Further

• Take this 31 day, kid-friendly Zero Waste Challenge.

• Don’t be an “aspirational recycler.” Review the rules for recycling in your local area, and be sure to follow them.

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.

Create a DIY Kindness Journal

Invite creative reflection about big ideas.

Keeping a compassion-themed journal is a wonderful way to build kindness into busy weeks and shine a spotlight on acts of kindness. Plus, you'll have a place to record family volunteering memories.

Possible Recipients

Keeping a family journal will result in a one-of-a-kind keepsake. These journals also make thoughtful gifts for anyone needing some encouragement.

What You'll Need

Decorate a composition notebook with duct tape. Scatter compassion-themed prompts and quotes throughout it. Then make time periodically to discuss, draw, and write about those kindness prompts as a family.

• Printed copies of our Family Service Memory reflection sheets

• Composition notebook

• Duct tape in fun colors

• Stickers

• Colored pencils, crayons, or markers

• Glue stick

Create Your Journal

Click here for one of two templates!

• Decorate the cover with duct tape, stickers, and markers.

• Choose your favorite prompts and quotes below. Using your colored pencils, crayons, or markers, artfully add a prompt or quote every few pages throughout your notebook.

• Print several of our Family Service Memory sheets. Keep them at the back of your journal to use when you complete a service project or act of kindness. After you fill out your worksheet, glue it into your journal.

Write in Your Journal

• Schedule time each week to create a journal entry.

• Set a timer for five minutes. Invite each family member to write or draw as much as they can in that time. Follow your ideas wherever they go. After the timer goes off, discuss your ideas.

• Here are some options for recording your ideas:

  • Take turns being the person to record the main ideas from a family conversation about your prompt.

  • Invite each family member to draw or write about your prompt in your journal. Then take time to discuss those ideas.

  • When you serve together, record your reflections using a Family Service Memory sheet and glue the sheet into your journal.

Kindness-Themed Journal Prompts

Make Lists:

• Who did you help today? Who helped you?

• What are you grateful for?

• What moments of this day brought you a feeling of peace or joy?

• Who would enjoy receiving a handmade card or handwritten note? Consider choosing people you know personally and/or those you have heard about in the news. Discuss your choices.

• Make a list of characteristics a good leader should have. Make a list of the characteristics a good citizen should have. How are these lists the same? How are they different?

• Make a shortlist of things you, as a family, would like to change about your community, state, or country. Then discuss what action you could take to begin working toward some of those changes.

• Make a list of things that are important about you and each of your family members that others would know just by looking. Make a list of things that are important about you and each of your family members that others would not know just by looking. Which list is longer? Which list feels more important? What does this teach us about other people?

• Who do you know (friend, neighbor, relative, classmate, anyone!) who may be struggling with loneliness, illness, or grief? Make a list of simple things you could do to help that person.

• Notice five complimentary things about your family members (or teacher or classmate, etc.).

• What causes or issues are most important to you? How can you support those causes?

• What emotions have you experienced in the past twenty-four hours?

Ask Big-Questions

• Why do you think it's important to spend some of our time giving back to the community?

• How do you think people feel when you do something kind for them? How do you feel when you've done something kind?

• Why do you think it’s important that friends, teachers, neighbors, coworkers, and students help each other throughout the day?

• What does it mean to have courage? Have you ever had to be brave?

• If you could change one thing in the world, what would you change?

• If we live in a free country, can we do whatever we want, whenever we want?

• What does it mean to live in a community with others? What rules (laws) does a society need to run smoothly?

• Talk about the distinction between courage and recklessness. Give examples of each. Emphasize the need for difficult decisions to be well-considered and the importance of acting on our values rather than our impulses.

• Together, imagine arriving in a new country without knowing the language or customs. What would it be like to have to leave home quickly and suddenly? What would you miss? How would you feel?

Ask Personal Questions

• What would life be like if (someone specific, a friend in the carpool, a neighbor, a story from school) didn’t help you out today?

• How do you make yourself feel better when you feel frustrated or angry at school? What about bored or tired? Excited?

• If you won a grand prize of $1,000, how would you spend it?

• If you won $1,000 and could not spend it on yourself or your family, how would you spend it?

• Describe a moment when you felt proud.

• Describe a moment you regret what you did or wish you had acted differently.

• What should we do if we notice something that is unfair at school or in our community?

• How does it make you feel to get a compliment? To give a compliment?

• Talk about how making certain choices might result in the loss of popularity and how to navigate that with courage.

Tell Stories

• If you could have one superpower, what would you choose? Write a brief story about how you use your power to help someone.

• An older student starts making fun of your friend's new shoes. What do you do or say? What would you be afraid of? What happens next?

• Write a story, poem, or comic about a child who finds a lost or hurt pet.

• Create a biography about a kid who invents a tool to save the rainforest, end homelessness, cure an illness, or eliminate loneliness.

• Write about a disagreement you were involved in recently, but write it from the perspective of the other person.

Find More Prompts:

• Choose your favorite questions from our blog post 29 Big-Hearted Questions for More Meaningful Family Conversations. Some - but not all - have been featured here.

• Choose your favorite quotes from the images on the right or from our Inspiration Pinterest Board. For five or ten minutes write or draw about what these quotes mean to you.

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.

Share Bookmark Kindness

Spread cheer and great reads.

Use our printable template, or design your own bookmarks. Then add your favorite big-hearted book recommendation to the back, and start ripples of bookish kindness. 

Potential Recipients

• Share bookmarks with patients in a nearby hospital, residents of a local nursing home, or anyone who could use some cheer.

• Include bookmarks with a community book drive.

• Give them as gifts to friends, teachers, neighbors. Or leave them (and perhaps a copy of your recommended book) in a Little Free Library.

What you’ll need

• Print one of DGT’s bookmark templates: Explore a Story, Pass it On or blank.

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

Click here for the Blank Bookmarks!

Click here for the Explore a Story printable!

Cliquea aquí para imprimir en español.

Instructions

• Read any of the titles in our Read with Empathy collection.

• Decorate your bookmarks with colors, colored pencils, or markers.

• Cut around the outside of the bookmarks.

• On the back, recommend your favorite perspective-expanding book or leave a cheerful note.

• Seal with packing tape or laminate. (Optional)

• Hide your decorated bookmarks (and perhaps your recommended book) in a Little Free Library, stash them in library books, or gift them to others!

Reflection

• Why did you recommend your chosen book?

• Why is it fun to read books about characters and experiences different from your own?

• People talk about kindness having a “ripple effect.” What do you think that means? Let’s imagine the ripple effect our bookmarks might have.

Resources

Browse the lists in Doing Good Together’s Read with Empathy collection for your next picture book favorite!

Take it further

• Restock a Little Free Library.

• Leave encouraging sticky notes - along with bookmarks - in your favorite library books.

• Donate favorite books to a 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.

Explore Nature with a DGT Guidebook

Visit the DGT Family Library to print this membership exclusive.

Members of the DGT Family, get outside with this exclusive download!

This members-only toolkit includes

• Conversation Cards: designed to enrich a family conversation about The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry

• My Nature Journal: a one-of-a-kind collection of 17 activities including creative writing, drawing, and mindfulness prompts.

• Heal the Earth: a 12-Week Kindness Challenge designed to help you make a difference week by week.

Visit the DGT Family Library to download this membership exclusive.

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.