Walking in Kindness

For this month's social/emotional literacy activity, I decided to make a small ritual. I wanted to take the concept of kindness, and push it outward out of our daycare sphere a little.

To do this, I created a mantra of sorts. I put down a line of painter's tape on our grass, and once a day, I would have the children line up (don't forget that's a kindergarten readiness skill!) and we would pace across the tape and say, "I wish kindness for myself. I wish kindness for my friends. I wish kindness for the earth."

I would have the kids repeat it several times as we walked slowly across the tape.

I'm a big believer in verbalizing intentions. Admittedly I do not always follow through on my verbalized intentions, but I still feel there is power in a word's resonance, and that by putting it out there, it creates more opportunity for it to reach fruition. The children may not fully grasp what they are saying, but the act of saying it is important. I want to create that energetic field around this school, produce an audible vibration of good intent, and see what happens when these little fledglings leave the nest.

Until next time...