I think we can all agree that a little more love and compassion in the world is always welcome. And teaching our kids the meaning of love and kindness is a great first step. We are raising the next generation, so let’s raise them to care for one another better than we are now. Today, we were thrilled to check out this new children’s book about compassion, and pair it with some acts of kindness for kids.

Standard Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. I may receive a commission from purchases you make through the links in this post. I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I Am Love: A Book of Compassion was written by Susan Verde and illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds. This lyrical story follows a young girl as she tries to figure out how to help others who are struggling through difficult times. She looks inside herself and realizes that she can use her compassion and tenderness to offer help. Finally, she lists all of the ways that she can offer love and compassion, and defines all of the things that love is. The illustrations that accompany the text are beautiful and full of bright colors and calming imagery. The back of the book includes notes on heart meditation and heart opening yoga poses.

We were inspired by this wonderful book to create some heart themed artwork and activities that encourage kindness. I asked my daughter what she thought we should do to bring this book to life, and these were some of the ideas we came up with together.

Rainbow Hearts

The vibrant illustrations in the book made us want to have some fun with bright colors and hearts, so we created these easy heart shaped stamps out of paper towel rolls. First, she helped me to cut a paper towel roll into pieces (working on those scissor skills). Next, I put different colors of paint out onto some plates. Finally, we dipped each stamper into different colors of paint and stamped them onto a sheet of white paper. This is also a great way to practice patterns, as you can stamp out different patterns and try to finish them together.

Related Post: Children’s Books on Kindness

Wiping Away Gray Skies

In the book, the young girl wants to help wipe away the gray skies that her friend is suffering from. We brought this part of the story to life with homemade scratch-off compliment cards. We started by cutting out small business card sized rectangles of cardstock. Next, we wrote compliments or kind words onto each card and covered them with packing tape. Then I mixed 2 parts paint with one part dish soap, and we painted over the writing on the card. You may need to add a couple of layers to completely hide the words. Once it dries, you can use a coin to “wipe away the gray” and reveal the kind words hidden underneath.

Related Post: Teaching Kids to Be Kind

Making Cookies

One of my daughter’s favorite acts of kindness is making cookies and giving them to others. So as soon as I suggested we complete some kind acts, she insisted that we make chocolate chip cookies! We whipped up a batch of our favorite cookies on a day that everyone in the family was dealing with stress, and gave them each scratch off cards too!

Acts of Kindness for Kids

This book was a great jumping off point to discuss different acts of kindness that we could perform for the people around us. We took inspiration from the many definitions of love in the book, and wrote up a list of acts of kindness that we would like to do. You could also take this a step further and write out simple acts of kindness onto different craft sticks. Place them into a jar that you keep in a central space in your home, and take one out every day or once a week (depending on the size of the acts you chose).

What are your favorite acts of kindness for kids? Do you have a favorite kid’s book about compassion? Share in the comments below!

More Posts You May Enjoy: