What is kindness? Kindness is a characteristic that consists of different elements. Helping someone in need, passing a smile to your neighbor, sharing a meal with your friend, or helping your classmate with homework all fall under kindness.

Teaching kids kindness helps them become good Muslims. It shapes their mind and heart. Kids’ minds are just like plain paper, whatever you teach them, will help them in the future. So early age is the best age to teach kids about kindness.

As it is said:

“One of the greatest gifts you can give your child is the example of kindness”.

But the question is, how can we teach our kids about kindness so that it becomes a part of their personality? Well, there are many ways to teach kindness lessons to children.

Here are some tips to teach kindness to the children:

TEACHING EMPATHY TO THE CHILDREN:   

Islam has taught us to be empathetic with others. You can teach our children to be empathetic towards everyone. This does not go for the people we know but it applies to every living thing. This includes animals and plants along with the people around us.

STORY OF THE BIRD AND ITS BABIES:

The Holy Prophet (PBUH) showed kindness towards animals. Once, the companion of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) took the baby birds out of their nest. When the other bird saw that she started flapping her wings, the Holy Prophet (PBUH) saw that he asked that man to put the babies back in the nest and not take them away from their mother.

This story shows that the Holy Prophet (PBUH) was not only kind towards human beings but he was also considerate of the animals and birds who couldn’t even speak.

ENCOURAGING KIDS TO SHOW RESPECT:  

When you teach kids Islamic kindness it is important to teach them about respecting others. Children should learn to respect their parents, teachers, and other elders around them.

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said:

“He is not one of us who does not show mercy to our young ones and respect to our elders.”(Sunan Abu Dawood)

Kids can show respect to their elders in different ways. Like greeting them with salam when meeting them, giving them a seat to sit, helping grandparents in walking, or lifting something when they find it difficult to do.

These small ways of kindness show how respectful kids are towards their elders. Moreover, these acts of kindness are also liked by ALLAH (SWT).

TEACH KIDS ABOUT VOLUNTEERING:  

While teaching Islamic values to the kids, Teaching them about volunteer activities also plays a vital role. Children should know that volunteering activities are highly encouraged in Islam. Additionally, it is also a great way of showing kindness to others.

For instance, teachers can tell the children to participate in activities as volunteers. Start a school garden or plan a tree-planting day where students can learn to plant and care for greenery. Moreover, you can also encourage students to clean the playgrounds and classrooms, this will teach them to be thoughtful of others by keeping the surroundings green and clean

TEACH THE KIDS ABOUT FORGIVENESS:  

The Holy Prophet (PBUH) has taught us to forgive others. He (PBUH) also had a forgiving nature and forgave even those who did so bad to him. But he forgave them and showed kindness towards them. We should teach our children the same. Forgiving others is a great deed and the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet (PBUH).

For example; If your child had a fight with one of his classmates who pushed him or said bad words to him. Tell them not to fight back instead just forgive them and sort out things with their classmates with kindness and positive words. As a parent, it’s your responsibility to teach them positive values.

ALLAH (SWT) says in the Holy Quran:

“The reward of an evil deed is its equivalent. But whoever pardons and makes reconciliation, his reward is with Allah.”

(Quran 42:40)

TEACHING COMPASSION TO KIDS:     

Compassion is the quality of a good Muslim. If you want your children to be good Muslims you must tell them about compassion. You can teach them to be compassionate in various ways. For example, you can teach them to do charity for people in need or take them to the orphanages near you so that they understand the feelings of others and learn to help them

KID’S ACTIVITIES FOR KINDNESS:    

Teachers and parents can include many kindness activities in their daily routine to teach the children about kindness. Some of the activities are mentioned below:

• MAKE A KINDNESS JAR: Write different kindness deeds on colorful papers and add them to a jar. Ask the child to pick one paper and do that kindness deed written on the paper. Like Sharing your meal with a friend, helping your mother with house chores, etc.
• READ BOOKS: Develop a habit of reading books. Introduce them to books that teach kindness through different stories. GOLDEN DEEDS By Shine With Tara is one of the best books you can get through our website for instilling kindness in children.
• MAKE A KINDNESS CALENDAR: Make a calendar and write a small kindness act for each day of the month. Encourage your child to follow this kindness calendar, and at the end of each month, reward them with a gift. This will motivate them, and they will be more interested in the next month’s activities.
• SHOW THEM NATURE: Take your children outside and teach them the importance of plants and greenery in our lives. Teach them about watering the plants and taking care of them.

All these activities develop a sense of kindness among the children. They learn about the moral values through these activities.

Kindness is a feeling that every Muslim child should possess. Our religion Islam has taught us about kindness in different ways. It is the responsibility of the parents and the teachers to encourage kindness to the kids not only to the people but also to other creatures around them.

Shine With Tara teaches kids about different acts of kindness in fun and engaging ways. You can check our YouTube channel and show it to your kids so that they can learn about kindness and many other Islamic teachings.