Christmas Kindness Countdown Calendar

It’s so easy to find yourself at the end of December asking, “What did we actually accomplish this month?”  So this year, I decided to be a bit more intentional about the holiday hullabaloo and created a Holiday Kindness Countdown Calendar that would encourage kindness and a season of giving.

Preparing for the Countdown

During the last week of November, we began to prepare for our countdown.  I shared this beautiful book Share Some Kindness, Bring Some Light by Apryl Stott to help children understand the different forms that kindness can take. 

We each decorated an ornament using art supplies a friend had donated to our class.  We chose to do a 25-day countdown, but you could also shorten it and do just 10 days.

We then passed the art materials along to another kindergarten class and this became a good first example of “paying it forward.”

We hung the ornaments on a garland in our calendar and news area.

Sharing the Countdown Calendar

A countdown calendar was sent home to families so they could follow along at home and participate on weekends if they wanted. (This is available in a 10-day format as well, and both are EDITABLE).

Holiday projects were coordinated with the kindnesses listed on the countdown calendar, which meant December activities were planned and ready to go even before the month begins.

The Kindness Countdown Begins

Each morning we read the day’s Christmas kindness listed on the ornament and countdown calendar and I invited the children to picture themselves doing this kindness.  Children shared what this would look and sound like.

We made bookmarks to secretly hide in someone’s book.

We surprised family members by hiding candy kisses in their pockets.

We decorated bags to be filled with charity donations.

Some wrote cards and thank you notes for family and friends.

We made cookie plates as holiday gifts for families.

The most fun was “sneaking” into another K classroom, while they were out, to leave them a secret surprise!

Some days were crazy December busy and we were not able to do more than just read the kindness, while others brought more time and we were able to explore the kindness further.  Either way, the daily routine kept the focus on a season of giving and this made my holiday heart happy!

If you would like to bring some Holiday Kindness into your classroom, you can find everything you need to get started in this resource.

Short on time? Use the digital slides included in this resource.  You can just click on the ornament and it takes you to a slide with that day’s kindness on it that you choose for that day. There’s also a 10-day version! 

 

For more meaningful ways to celebrate the holidays in the classroom, check out Holiday Ideas for Every Month.

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