Kindness & Inclusion Lesson for Children
Before I had my sweet babies, I worked as a Special Education teacher for children with emotional and behavioral disabilities. I spent a lot of time co-teaching with our amazing social worker and this was a version of one of the lessons we did! My hope for this lesson, is to help littles understand the importance of inclusion and the impact kindness has on others.
Supplies
- The Invisible Boy, by Trudy Ludwig
- The Kindness Activity Pack
- Sand Paper
- Cotton Balls
- Two Clothes Pins
- Glue
After I printed the Kindness Activity Pack and cut out the pieces, I glued a small piece of sand paper and a few cotton balls to two clothes pins. E and I talked about the difference between kind and hurtful words, giving a few examples. We talked about how those words make us and the people around us feel. She was able to connect that hurtful words felt rough, and scratchy like sand paper and kind words were soft like cotton. It was a great visual for her!
We read, The Invisible Boy by Trudy Ludwig. It is the sweetest story about the importance of including everyone at school. This would be a great book for parents and teachers to read to littles starting school!
The second part of the Kindness Activity Pack, is a simple sorting activity. There are eight phrases that can be sorted into kind or hurtful word categories. I read each phrase out loud to her and we were able to discuss how they would make her feel before sorting them.
To me, a lesson on kindness is more important than numbers or letters. I hope you enjoy this activity with your littles and know they are never too young to start learning those social skills!
