Painted Rocks

Unless you've been living under a rock (see what I did there :-)), you've probably heard about the painted rock project.  It started as a way to help bring inspiration to others that may need it and has turned into a huge movement that swept across the country. The basic idea is you paint rocks with any sort of design, quote or saying and then "hide" them for others to find.

Simple, right?  Well, just imagine the smile it might bring to someone's face to find a rock with a word of inspiration outside of a doctor's office or for a child to find a cute painted rock on a playground.  The possibilities are endless.  We've found a few painted rocks around town and and it is always such a pleasant surprise that brings a smile to my kids' faces.

Last summer this seemed to be gaining popularity and I kept thinking I wanted to make some painted rocks with my kids.  I kept putting it off, but now we've painted rocks a few different times and the kids love it!

We collected rocks from several different sources.  Some came from our yard, some I bought in a decorative set at the dollar store and some were left over from my in-law's landscaping project.  You can order decorative rocks to use for this kind of project or pick them up from your local landscaping store.

One time I let the kids paint the solid colors first and let them dry before adding their designs.

It took a while for them to get completely dry though, so the next time I spray painted a lot of them to have a solid background before they started. I did find that spray painting them ahead of time was better and less of a mess.

Then we invited some of their friends over for a painting party and they got to work!  I used plastic tablecloths under where they were working to save my furniture and then one time we painted them outside!

We used paint pens because it was easier for them to get the designs they wanted by just drawing on the rocks rather than trying to use a tiny paint brush to do it.

After they dried we stuck them in the car with us and started hiding any place we could think of.  When we went to sports fields, when running errands around town, at the playground, school and park.  The kids loved finding special places for the rocks and hoping that someone would come along and be excited to find their creations.

It was such a simple and easy little project to do, but so much fun.  I know it brought a smile to my kids' faces and we're hoping that whoever found their rocks would be smiling, too!

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Random Acts of Kindness {Ideas for Kids}

Random Acts of Kindness Day is this Saturday, but we're celebrating all week!  Last week I shared these Kindness Treat Bags and Blondie asked me if we had any extras. She wanted to take one to the lunchroom monitor at school.  

She said this woman was the nicest lady and she had told her teacher she thought this woman deserved to be paid more!  Not only does she have to put up with the loud cafeteria at school and kids that are being wild, but she does it with a smile on her face and is so sweet and kind to the kids. I loved that she came up with this idea on her own and wanted to do something special for this woman. I sent her off to school with the Kindness Treat Bag and she came home saying it made the woman feel so appreciated! 

I loved that it was her idea and she got to see how wonderful it feels to do something nice for another person.  On that note, I thought I'd share some other Random Acts of Kindness ideas for kids.  Easy ideas that can help get kids involved and start sharing the love! 

Some ideas are totally free, some take a little prep, but all are sure to put a smile on someone's face. 

Simple things like taping quarters to a vending machine or candy bar at the store...

Leaving lucky pennies on a sidewalk for someone to find...

And painting/hiding rocks for others to find...

  Head on over to Savvy Sassy Moms to see all 10 of our ideas! There are so many ideas all over the internet. It's fun to come up with a list with your kids and get to work. Anything that can lift someone up, make them smile, spread the love and share the kindness.

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Thank you Oriental Trading for providing some of the products for this post. All ideas and opinions are my own. 

Random Acts of Kindness {Kindness Treat Bags}

It's February 1st!!!  The month of LOVE.  Valentine's Day isn't the only holiday we will celebrate this month though.  February 17th is the National Random Acts of Kindness Day and I'm going to focus on acts of kindness with my kids all month long! Ever since my kids were little I have always tried to instill in them the importance of being kind.  Kind to their peers, kind to their teachers, kind to strangers, just kind.

Just recently a video was circulated around our area of a girl being bullied in a classroom setting and it literally pained me to watch. I just couldn't believe how cruel some children were being and all of the others who were just standing by doing nothing.  I certainly hope that if any of my children were ever in a position to stand up and make a difference, that they would choose to be kind.

I put an emphases on them treating others with kindness and respect when it comes to their peers.  I always tell them that they do not have to be best friends with someone, but they do have to be kind.  A mother of a student at our school recently shared with me that my daughter smiled and waved to her daughter on the playground.  Sounds simple, but she told me what a big impact that made on her child.  A simple smile and wave hello instead of turning and running off in the other direction to find her "best friends" made a world of difference for this child and that just made my heart soar. I made sure to share this with my daughter so she would realize how a tiny act of kindness can really make a huge impact.

I'm going to be sharing several ideas for Random Acts of Kindness Day over the next few weeks.  Some are free, some require a little preparation, some are totally simple and some a little more involved, but they all are guaranteed to bring a smile to another person and make their day.

Up first I wanted to share these Kindness Treat Bags the kids and I created.  I ordered some goodies from Oriental Trading and we put together these bags pretty quickly.  A positive message, little balls, our favorite cellophane bags and some ribbon is all it took! 

I got this idea because when we were in the middle of our basement and yard project we had people at our house all.the.time. There was constant banging, noise, and a lack of privacy. It started to annoy me and I just wanted the projects completed, but then I decided to shift my way of thinking and instead see it as a wonderful opportunity to have my children share some kindness.  Each afternoon we would gather Gatorades, waters, snacks, candy and other treats to walk down to all of the guys working on our house. They were putting in long hours and working tirelessly to complete our project and the least we could do was thank them with some treats to fuel their energy and keep them going. It became a daily routine and when they saw us coming they would smile and say "snack time!"  It made the kids feel good to know they were making someone's day and it put a smile on the construction workers' faces.

I started to think about other people who do a lot for us and how we could bring a smile to their face, too. We made some treat bags that could be shared with just about anyone.  We filled with candy, tied them up and were ready to start distributing.  

These can easily be placed on a doorknob for a neighbor, or left there for your package delivery person!  

We also plan to stick them other places for recipients such as in our mailbox for our postal worker... 

 ...and also for our trash collection workers!  

A few weeks ago when we were at a cheer competition a cheerleader from another gym randomly came up to Little Mama, gave her a little treat bag filled with candy and wished her good luck.  She was so taken aback, but it was the sweetest thing. I saw kids from that other gym doing the same thing all afternoon.  In a sometimes tense and high-pressure environment, they were spreading the love and positive vibes and it was so neat to watch.   That sparked the idea for these kindness treat bags that are geared towards kids. We filled them with these balls and some candy.  Now they are ready to be passed out to anyone my kids feel might need a little extra encouragement or brightness to their day. 

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Thank you to Oriental Trading for providing the supplies for this post.  All thoughts, ideas and opinions are our own.