Holiday Traditions: 25 Random Acts of Kindness

With the holidays upon us, my family and I are focusing on the true reason for the season and making the holidays about loving and giving back to others — with our 25 Random Acts of Christmas Kindness challenge. (I must admit, I found this holiday activity on Pinterest last year, but it was too late in the month to start it. However, I tucked it away knowing that I’d be sure to plan ahead for this year.)

I am so excited about this activity and am really looking forward to getting my children excited about giving back to others. In a world so focused on the “I wants,” I’m doing my best to teach my children that it is far better to give, than to receive.

Here’s how we’re planning on pulling off this 25-day challenge. First, I came up with a list of 25 easy activities (most of which are free!). Some of these acts of kindness I  borrowed from others, but the rest are ones I came up with on our own (based on our life). Once my list was done, I used this free printable to create 25 individual cards listing each random act of Christmas kindness. The night before each activity, we’ll pick a card and talk about what we’re going to do the next day. One of the things I’m most excited about is leaving behind a card to let the recipient know that they’ve been “R.A.C.K.’ed.”

So here they are! In no particular order, our family’s 25 Random Acts of Christmas Kindness:

1. Buy lunch or coffee for the person behind you in line.
2. Take a break from texting and e-mail. Mail an actual handwritten letter to someone you love. Just because.*
3. Leave a note or small gift in your mailbox for your mail carrier. (Anything left should be clearly marked, so as to avoid mail tampering concerns.)
4. Bake and deliver holiday goodies to someone who would appreciate a pick-me-up (firemen, police officers, garbage collectors, etc.).
5. Donate food to a local food pantry. Even better? Find some time to volunteer at the food pantry.*
6. Put some money into a parking meter that’s about to expire.
7. Place a box of sidewalk chalk on one of the slides at the playground for some children to find.
8. Tape a note with $1 to a vending or soda machine.
9. Bring a poinsettia to your child’s teacher.
10. Buy a bouquet of flowers and pass them out to people that you encounter throughout the day. (If you’re nervous about approaching strangers, you can leave them on the windshields or door handles of cars in a parking lot.)
11. Pay someone’s overdue book fees at your local library.
12. Tape a few quarters to one of those toy vending machines at a grocery store.
13. Before paying at the grocery store, buy a gift card, and then turn around and hand it to the person behind you.
14. Leave an extra big tip at a restaurant.
15. Take get well balloons to the hospital and leave them with a nurse for someone who is alone.
16. Figure out something tiny, nice, and unexpected to do for your one of your coworkers.*
17. Buy a new, unwrapped toy for Toys for Tots or Adopt-an-Angel (or a similar holiday program).
18. Leave a comment on every blog post you read this month.  (Trust me, we love reading the comments on ours! :) )*
19. Many of us have far more than we need. Clean out your closets and take a bag full of toys and clothes to Goodwill.*
20. Give the gift of sleep. Volunteer to babysit for a particularly sleep-deprived friend or relative.*
21. Don’t forget your furry friends! Contact a local animal shelter to find out what they need (cat/dog food, blankets, towels, cleansers, and food bowls, etc.) or simply spend some time playing with the shelter animals.
22. Cook a meal and deliver it to a new family or someone you know who could use the help.*
23. Send a holiday card to a soldier. When you’re writing your own holiday cards, include one for someone serving in the military.*
24. Tape candy canes, with your R.A.C.K. note, to various public places (vending machines, bathroom mirrors, etc.).
25. Spread some holiday cheer! Visit an assisted living home to hand out treats, artwork from your children, read holiday books, or sing a few Christmas carols.*

*These random acts of kindness are free!

In the end, I think that we can never underestimate the power of unexpected kindness. A cup of warm coffee on a bitterly cold day. A few quarters for bouncy ball. A jolly Christmas carol to someone that has no one. Call me crazy, or better yet, call me “Miss Goody Two Shoes,” but I truly believe that if we all just took a little time to pay it forward – one random act of kindness at a time – that these little acts will have BIG impact on someone else. And pretty soon, the love will be felt all around.

And we’d love for you to join us! If you decide to perform any on our list, or your own random acts of kindness, please share your what you did, we’d love to hear how it went and any reactions you received. And if you happen to take photos, we’d love to see those too! Feel free to upload them to Instagram using the hash tag #25RACK or you can post them to the Seaside Vacations Facebook page.

Now, what are you waiting for? Start spreading some holiday love. :)