We were asked, by the fantastic Catherine Landry, Founder of Ladies Who Lunch, to run an Act of Kindness at her Showstoppers event on January 28, 2017. This was an awesome community event – “Ottawa’s only pet friendly SHOPPING extravaganza featuring delicious LOCAL businesses.” Where people were invited to “SHOP-SIP-SAMPLE-SHARE and catch up with your local community of creators, innovators & vendors.”
Our fabulous friends from Family Harmonies Familiales (FHF) came out to help us – so that we could run out in the middle of the event to our Kindness Club at Billingswood Manor Seniors Residence.
In collaboration with Catherine, we decided that for our Act of Kindness, we would make Valentines to give to the kids at CHEO. We thought that these bees were super cute!
My daughter and I tried out the craft together before the event. We cut out the required shapes to make the bee. I made one to use as a sample. And, as you can see from the creation in the bottom right of the photo, my daughter decided that rules do not apply to her and she made her own creation with some of the pre-cut shapes. We do encourage that sort of independent thinking at World-Changing Kids! And it was a good reminder for me to just go with the flow and not place my expectations on the craft when running it at Showstoppers.
So, with that reminder, we set off for Showstoppers with lots of construction paper, glue, scissors, and crayons. Our friends from FHF brought more awesome craft supplies. And we let the kids, and adults, create whatever they felt inspired to create.
This lovely girl, whose mom was set up beside us with her super Nameable Gifts table, spent all afternoon crafting with us.
And friends from our neighbourhood (and the owners of Mandy’s Cafe in Alta Vista) stopped by to visit us and make a beautiful bee as well.
So much love was shared at our World-Changing Kids Craft Table at Showstoppers – it makes my heart fill right up when I see all these beautiful Valentines that we will deliver to the kids at CHEO.
And the love did not stop there! We also made some Valentines for CHEO at our Kindness Crafternoon at the Alta Vista Outdoor Rink this past Tuesday.
Getting children to create Valentine cards for the kids at CHEO helps them build their empathy and compassion muscles. Teaching them that they have the power to make someone else feel better by making them a love filled craft will encourage them to think of more ways to help others. Doing Acts of Kindness together as a family will show your children that you value kindness, which will result in children wanting to be involved in more Acts of Kindness.
For 75 more Acts of Kindness that children can do to build empathy and compassion, while also building a friendlier community, check out our book “Plant a Garden of Kindness, A Child’s Guide to Filling a Year with Weekly Acts of Kindness” by clicking on the “Buy Our Book” link in the top right hand corner.