Lesson Plan
Kindness Counts
Promote mental well-being
This lesson aims to teach first graders the importance of kindness and empathy. Through fun and interactive activities, students will engage in role-playing scenarios that help them understand how to be kind to others. The lesson also includes a kindness jar activity where students will share kind deeds they've done or experienced, and a closing discussion to reflect on how kindness makes us feel.
Audience
1st grade
Time
30 minutes
Approach
Promote mental well-being
Materials
Kindness role-playing scenarios attachment, Kindness Jar (jar with paper slips), and Printable kindness cards attachment
Step 1
Introduction to Kindness
5 minutes
- Begin by asking students what they think kindness means.\n- Discuss the importance of being kind to others and how it can make us and others feel good.\n- Introduce the concept of empathy—understanding and sharing the feelings of another.
Step 2
Role-Playing Scenarios
10 minutes
- Explain that students will act out different scenarios where they can practice being kind.\n- Divide the students into small groups and hand out the role-playing scenario cards from the attachment.\n- Give students a few minutes to prepare and then have each group act out their scenario.\n- Discuss each scenario briefly, focusing on how the kind actions could help others.
Step 3
Kindness Jar Activity
10 minutes
- Show the students the Kindness Jar and explain that they'll be writing down kind deeds they've done or experienced.\n- Hand out paper slips and ask students to write or draw one kind deed on each slip.\n- Collect the slips in the Kindness Jar and read a few examples aloud.\n- Praise the students for their kind actions and encourage them to keep being kind every day.
Step 4
Closing Discussion
5 minutes
- Gather the students in a circle and ask them how they felt doing and witnessing kind deeds.\n- Discuss how simple acts of kindness can make a big difference in our lives and the lives of others.\n- Wrap up by encouraging students to think of ways to be kind every day, both at school and at home.
Worksheet
Kindness Role-Playing Scenarios
These printable cards contain various role-playing scenarios for students to act out, helping them practice being kind in different situations.
Helping a friend who fell down
Sharing a toy with someone who is sad
Comforting someone who is crying
Inviting someone to join a game
Helping a new student find their way around the school
Worksheet
Printable Kindness Cards
These cards can be printed and given to students to write or draw their kind deeds for the Kindness Jar activity.
I helped someone by...
I shared my...
I made someone smile by...
I invited... to play with me
I was kind to... by...
