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Kind things to do with kids
Concrete enough for a child to understand what happened and why it mattered, which is most of what makes it stick. Nothing here needs a craft supply run or a Pinterest board.
Showing 31–60 of 76 ideas
Move your trolley out of the aisle
A blocked aisle is an inconvenience to most people and an impassable wall to a wheelchair or a scooter.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Write down the thing a child said
Every parent believes they will remember. Almost none do, and the exact words are what disappear first.
5 minutesFreeA friend
Not rated yet
Praise the effort where the result was bad
A young person who worked hard and failed will be told the result was disappointing by everyone else.
5 minutesFreeA friend1 person did this
Not rated yet
Leave credit on the machine behind you
A parking meter, a laundry card, a photo booth. The next person gets a small unearned piece of luck.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Talk to the child who is not performing
At any family gathering one child holds the room and another is under the table with a book.
5 minutesFreeA friend
Not rated yet
Pay a bit more at the place that employs people
The difference between the independent and the chain is usually small per item and decisive per year.
Half an hourUnder $10A stranger
Not rated yet
Scan the box of photographs
Boxes of prints are one house fire or one house clearance from being gone. Scanning them takes an afternoon.
An afternoonFreeA friend
Not rated yet
Hand in the thing you found, properly
A dropped wallet or phone handed to the right place is the difference between a bad afternoon and a ruined month.
Half an hourFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Invite the child everyone stops inviting
Parents of disabled children describe the birthday party invitations drying up as the loneliest part.
5 minutesFreeA caregiver
Not rated yet
Do the bins for the house where it is getting hard
Wheeling a heavy bin down an icy path is one of the small tasks that quietly becomes dangerous with age.
5 minutesFreeA neighbor
Not rated yet
Buy the last of it at the end of market day
Unsold fresh produce at four o'clock is a loss the trader eats. Buying it is a favor disguised as a bargain.
Half an hourUnder $10A stranger
Not rated yet
Take back two trolleys instead of one
Collecting trolleys in the rain is somebody's whole shift. Two at a time halves a specific, miserable job.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Take the other child out
When one child is seriously ill or disabled, their brothers and sisters become invisible to every adult around them.
An afternoonUnder $10A caregiver
Not rated yet
Write an actual letter
A letter can be reread, shown to visitors and kept on the mantelpiece. A text cannot do any of those things.
Half an hourUnder $10A neighbor1 person did this
Not rated yet
Pick up what fell out of someone's bag
Gloves, cards, a child's toy. The owner will not discover the loss until it is far too late to retrace.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Put back the bins that blew over
After a windy collection day the street is strewn with other people's bins and rubbish. It takes one person ten minutes.
5 minutesFreeA neighbor
Not rated yet
Put your number through a door
Most neighbors have no way to reach each other. One card through a letterbox fixes that for years.
5 minutesFreeA neighbor
Not rated yet
Step aside early on a narrow pavement
Whoever moves first is usually whoever is least able to. Deciding to be the one who moves is free.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Bring tools out when someone is moving in
Moving day is the one day a household owns everything and can find nothing. A screwdriver at the right hour is remembered for years.
Half an hourFreeA neighbor1 person did this
Not rated yet
Warn the parent who has not seen it
A toddler heading for a road or a pond. The parent is two seconds behind and has not looked up.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Hand back what the machine gave you by mistake
Money left in a cash machine or an overpaid change is someone's actual money, and they will notice.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Walk a lost person to the corner
Directions are forgotten by the second turn. Walking someone to the point where they can see it is what works.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Learn the dog's name first, then the owner's
The dog is the easiest introduction on any street, and the one conversation nobody finds intrusive.
5 minutesFreeA neighbor
Not rated yet
Ask an older person to teach you something
Being useful is the thing most often lost in older age. Being taught is a better gift than being helped.
An afternoonUnder $10A neighbor
Not rated yet
Ask an older person what they used to do
Retired people are asked about their health and their grandchildren. Almost nobody asks what they were good at.
Half an hourFreeA neighbor
Not rated yet
Say something specific about their garden
Someone is doing that for nobody's benefit but the street's, and almost certainly has never been told it was noticed.
5 minutesFreeA neighbor
Not rated yet
Wave through the person with three things
You have a full trolley and eleven minutes of unpacking ahead. They have a sandwich and a train to catch.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Bring food in a container they never have to return
A borrowed dish is a small ongoing debt. Food in something disposable is a gift with no strings at all.
Half an hourUnder $10A caregiver
Not rated yet
Offer to take the photo for the group
Someone is always missing from the picture, and it is usually the person who organized the trip.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Offer to water while they are away
Offering before a holiday is worth far more than offering after. It also quietly tells a burglar the house is occupied.
5 minutesFreeA neighbor
Not rated yet