Assemble and Share Seed Bombs

Assemble colorful habitat starters to support pollinators.

These compostable, natural balls of clay will hold seeds until they break down in the sun, air, and weather, unleashing a colorful, nutritious treat for pollinators.

Possible Recipients

Mix up a batch of seed bombs to plant in your backyard! Share them with friends. Work with your school or youth group plant them around your organization’s campus. Or try your hand at guerilla gardening!

What you’ll need

Avoid commercial wildflower mixes, as they are likely to contain invasive species.

Avoid commercial wildflower mixes, as they are likely to contain invasive species.

• Dry clay powder (like this from Seed-balls.com)

• Variety of native seeds from your area (Note: this is important! Call a local nursery for guidance!) Here are helpful tools:

  • Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation offers pollinator-friendly seed lists for regions across the U.S.

  • Xerces Milkweed Seed Finder connects you with local milkweed plants and seed sellers. Did you know there are 73 varieties of native milkweed?

  • MJV Plant Vendor Map illustrates quality vendors across the U.S.

• Compost, manure, or worm castings

• Water

• Measuring cups, a bowl or bucket, and large spoons for mixing

Instructions

This beautiful book will inspire your young seed bomb makers and introduce more creative ways your family can support a strong monarch population and connect with bug life.

1. Plan your measurements in a ratio of 5 parts clay - 1 part compost - 1 part seeds

1. Mix compost and seeds well.

2. Add dry clay.

3. Slowly add water, a few tablespoons at a time, and mix until a moist but not wet meal forms and can be pressed together. If you add too much water, add clay to get the proper consistency.

4. Flatten dough and cut it into equal parts.

5. Roll each part into a ball about the size of a ping pong ball.

6. Dry the balls until ready to disseminate to your destination.

7. Give your seed balls their best chance to germinate by sinking them about halfway in the surrounding soil, especially if planting in a backyard or school campus. Watch for results!

8. If guerilla gardening, use native milkweed seeds and toss them under power lines or along roadsides.

Reflections

• How important are pollinators, anyway? Check out this National Geographic video to learn the answer.

• How do you feel when you see a butterfly or a bee pollinating a flower?

Take it further

• Raise and release your own monarch butterflies with this step-by-step guide.

• Monarch Joint Venture offers this extensive list of community science efforts as well as this list of tools for kids.

• Plant a garden for monarchs with this detailed guide.

Resources

Discover more titles to inspire your next project to heal the earth with this growing list.

• Monarch Butterflies: Explore the Life Journey of One of the Winged Wonders of the World by Ann Hobie
  This beautiful new book will inspire your young seed bomb makers and encourage close observations of your pollinator neighbors.

• Flowers are Calling by Rita Gray
  The perfect tool to illustrate the symbiotic relationship between creatures and flowers.

• Begin with a Bee by Liza Ketchum
  This poetic, life-cycle study of bumblebees encourages readers to recognize the part we all play in protecting the natural world.

  Browse the projects in our Big-Hearted Families Tookit!

Disclaimer:  Doing Good Together™ is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

The recommendations we offer are based solely on our mission to empower parents to raise children who care and contribute.

Bake Dog Biscuits

Create shareable treats for furry friends.

Share these treats with shelter dogs, canine neighbors, or host a pet treat bake sale to raise funds for an animal shelter near you!

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Possible recipients

Many local Animal Humane Societies and animal shelters appreciate donations of homemade treats.

What you’ll need

Click here for this popular article.

• Large bowl

• Rolling pin

• 1/2 cup cornmeal

• 6 tbsp oil

• 2 cups whole wheat flour

• 2/3 cup water or broth

• Cookie sheet

• Cookie cutters (especially dog-bone shaped!)

• Container

Instructions

• Call your nearest animal shelter first to be sure they can use the dog biscuits you make. Ask when to drop them off and whether you can get a tour or visit with the animals.

• To make the dog biscuits: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients together well. Roll out to 1/4 inch thick. Cut into shapes with cookie cutters. Bake 35-40 minutes, let cool, and store in a tightly sealed container.

Reflections

• Why is it fun to spend time with animals?

• Why is it important to care for animals that don’t have a home?

• How do you think a dog might feel to get a special treat? How do you feel when you receive a special treat?

• What are other ways we can help animals in need?

• Discuss the many wordless ways animals show their feelings -- pain, hunger, excitement, loneliness. Ask your children how those emotions and responses are similar to their own.

Resources

• Maggie’s Second Chance by Nancy Furstinger
  Ages 4-8. Jeff and his 4th-grade classmates save Maggie, a rescue dog, by petitioning the town council to establish an animal shelter. Based on a true story.

• Buddy Unchained by Daisy Bix Ages 4-8. The story of a dog that was abused before finding himself in a loving home.

• The Shelter Dog by Christine Davis
  Ages 4-8. Hero, an angel dog, decides he wants to go back to earth to be a shelter dog so a loving family can choose him as their pet. Slowly he realizes that living in a shelter isn’t as nice as it appears.

• A Dog’s Life: Autobiography of a Stray by Ann M. Martin
  Ages 9-12. A puppy separated from its family must learn how to survive on its own.

Take it further

• When you deliver your goodies, spend some time playing with the animals. See if you can get a tour of the shelter and ask about other ways you can help out.

• Consider fostering animals, which means providing a temporary (a few days to a few months) home for animals that require special attention because they are very young, sick, or because the shelter has limited space.

• Offer to assist an elderly neighbor or friend who might need help with dog walking or other pet care.

• Make other pet treats or toys for animals at the shelter.

  Browse the projects in our Big-Hearted Families Tookit!

Disclaimer:  Doing Good Together™ is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

The recommendations we offer are based solely on our mission to empower parents to raise children who care and contribute.

Create Pet Toys

Entertain furry friends with an easy craft.

Helping animals is a surefire way to get your child excited about doing good.

Crafty kids and their families can make toys for dogs, cats, and even guinea pigs and bunnies!

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Click here for this popular article from DGT.

Possible recipients

Entertain neighborhood pet friends or donate them to your local animal shelter.

What you’ll need:

FOR CAT TOYS

• Infant or child-size crew socks (make sure they are new!)

• Cotton balls or craft stuffing

• Dried catnip

• Non-toxic permanent fabric markers

• Non-toxic washable fabric glue (unless you prefer tying a knot)

FOR DOG TOYS

• 3 pieces of fleece (about 7-10 inches) per toy

FOR GUINEA PIG OR BUNNY TOYS

• Toilet paper rolls

• Timothy Hay (available at pet stores)

• Non-toxic permanent markers

Instructions

Before you begin, call your local animal shelter. Find out what their immediate needs are and ask if they can use pet toys.

CAT TOYS

• Stuff the sock’s toe with 1 tablespoon of catnip. Stuff the foot of the sock with cotton balls or craft stuffing. Squeeze fabric glue on the inside of the sock’s ribbing to glue the sock closed, or knot the top of the sock. Decorate with fabric markers.

DOG TOYS

• Take 3 pieces of fleece, knot at one end, braid, and knot at the other end. See more specific instructions here.

• When you deliver the toys, see if you can play with the animals or get a tour.

GUINEA PIG OR BUNNY TOYS

• Decorate the toilet paper tubes.

• Stuff empty toilet paper tubes with Timothy Hay.

• See more specific instructions here.

Reflections

• What do you like about being around animals?

• How do you think the dog or cat that receives your toy will feel?

• Why is it important to help out living things other than people?

• What are other ways we can show animals we love them?

Resources

• Before You Were Mine by Maribeth Boelts (Putnam Juvenile, 2007). Ages 4-8. A young boy thinks about the life of his dog before he adopted him from an animal shelter.

• Shelter Dogs: Amazing Stories of Adopted Strays by Peg Kehret (Albert Whitman & Company, 1999). Ages 8-12. A collection of stories about previously stray dogs that became heroes.

• Kind News A fun interactive website from the Humane Society of the United States about how kids can get involved in animal rights issues.

Take it further

• When you deliver the toys, ask about other ways you can help at the shelter.

• Gather a group of friends to make more toys, and deliver them together.

• Throw an animal-themed birthday party. Make animal toys and dog biscuits. Other ideas: hang a puppy or kitten piñata, make dog houses from graham crackers, make dog and cat ear headbands, and have guests bring donations for your local animal shelter in lieu of gifts.

  Browse the projects in our Big-Hearted Families Tookit!

Disclaimer:  Doing Good Together™ is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

The recommendations we offer are based solely on our mission to empower parents to raise children who care and contribute.

Foster Animals

Open your house to a pet who needs a home.

When your community has dogs or cats that need extra love and care (usually because they are very young, sick, or the shelter has limited space), your family can provide a temporary home.

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Possible recipients

Support an animal shelter near you.

What you’ll need

• A love of animals.

• The time and commitment to help the animal you foster.
  (Typically, your family’s main responsibility will be to handle and cuddle the animals frequently — along with providing food, water, and clean living space — so they can become well-socialized pets for the families that adopt them.)

• The financial ability to care for an additional animal or family of animals.

Instructions

• Call your local animal shelter to find out your fostering options. They will likely require an application and offer an initial training course to get you started.

• Ask which supplies and services (food, vet care, etc.) the shelter provides and which you will need to contribute.

• Prepare yourselves and your home for the new addition.

• Always supervise interactions between foster animals and young children.

Reflections

• Do you have other pets? How do you think they might feel if we were unable to care for them?

• How can we understand the needs and moods of our new foster pet? What cues tell us if they are hungry or lonely? If they want to be cuddled or want time to rest?

• Why is it important to help living things other than people?

• What are other ways we can show animals we love them?

Click the image to access this book.

Resources

• The Little Blue Dog by Karen Roberts
  Your family will love this sweet story of life from the perspective of a shelter dog. This story is sure to spark big-hearted conversations about love, home, and belonging, necessary comforts for people and pets alike.

• Before You Were Mine by Maribeth Boelts
  A young boy thinks about the life of his dog before he adopted him from an animal shelter.

• The Shelter Dog by Christine Davis
  Ages 4-8. Hero, an angel dog, decides he wants to go back to earth to be a shelter dog so a loving family can choose him as their pet. Slowly he realizes that living in a shelter isn’t as nice as it appears.

• Three Stories You Can Read to Your Cat by Sara Swan Miller
  This book features three silly stories about the adventures of being a cat.

Take it further

• Gather the kids to make dog biscuits or toys for the animals you foster. If you have extras, the shelter would love to have them!

• Create fun “advertisements” to help your foster pets find their forever homes. Share your ads on social media, create posters to display on community bulletin boards, or even make a short video to share.

Browse the projects in our Big-Hearted Families Toolkit!

Disclaimer:  Doing Good Together™ is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

The recommendations we offer are based solely on our mission to empower parents to raise children who care and contribute.

Make Birdseed Cookies

Share kindness with feathered friends.

Young nature lovers will enjoy whipping up a batch of bird treats and watching the local bird population flock to the feast.

This simple video will help you get started!

Possible recipients

The full recipe below creates around 30 cookies. Use them to spread good cheer in the community!

• Share them with a lonely neighbor.

• Donate them to a local senior care home.

• Or hang them outside the window of a friend recovering from surgery.

Seem complicated?

Visit our Pinterest Board: For the Birds to find the perfect bird feeder for your family (including this super simple version featuring cheerios and yarn or pipe cleaners).

What you'll need

• 2 cups flour

• 1/2 tsp baking powder

• 1/2 cup of sugar

• 2/3 cup vegetable shortening

• 2 eggs

• 3/4 cup birdseed (use small seeds)

• 3 egg whites

• Cookie cutters

• Paper clips

• Yarn to hang cookies

Instructions

• Sift all the dry ingredients together and cut in the lard with a blunt knife.

• Add the eggs.

• Add the birdseed and knead until smooth.

• Allow the dough to chill overnight.

• Roll out the dough to 1/4 inch thickness and cut into shapes with cookie cutters.

• Insert a paper clip into the top of the shape to act as a hanger.

• Brush the cookie with beaten egg whites and press birdseed into the top of the cookie.

• Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet at 325 degrees F for 10-15 minutes or until the cookies are hard.

• String yarn through the paper clip to make a hanger and hang on a tree near a birdbath.

Reflection Questions

• How do you think the birds will feel when they find these special treats?

• How does it make you feel to make birdseed cookies and see the birds eat them?

• Why do you think it’s important to care for animals?

• What other things do you think we could do for the birds?

Resources

• Ruby’s Birds by Mya Thompson
  Discover the fun in birdwatching right along with Ruby in this fun story. Learn Ruby’s tips for taking nature walks, how to spot birds wherever you are, and connect with Celebrate Urban Birds, a citizen-science project at the Cornell Lab.

• Tea with Lady Sapphire: Sharing the Love of Birds by Carl R. Sams II and Jean Stoick
  Birds, nature, and the relationship between a grandma and her grandchildren are a gentle reminder that the simplest pleasures can often be found just outside our window.
  Ages: Pre-k to 8

• Wild Wings by Gill Lewis
  Young readers will love this gripping story about a boy from Scotland and a girl from West Africa who join together to save a migrating Osprey and share wonderful adventures along the way.
  Ages: 8 to 12

Take it further

• Hang the cookies in a place near a window where your family can watch the birds eat from indoors.

• Make “birds nest” bags to supply birds with materials to build their nests. Take a piece of netting or plastic mesh from a produce bag and fill it with things like dryer lint, pine needles, colorful ribbons, raffia, etc., and tie it at the top. Hang outside and watch your neighborhood for signs of your materials, especially ribbons in neighborhood nests.

Browse the projects in our Big-Hearted Families Toolkit!

Disclaimer:  Doing Good Together™ is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

The recommendations we offer are based solely on our mission to empower parents to raise children who care and contribute.

Support Operation Paperback

Share the solace of a good book.

Inspire friends and neighbors to put their dusty bookshelves to work! Collect paperbacks to send to soldiers serving overseas, their families here at home, and veterans.

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Potential Recipients

For more than 20 years, volunteers with Operation Paperback have been distributing nearly 15,000 books each month to members of the U.S. Military.

What you’ll need

• Motivation to ask friends and neighbors to share paperback books

• Box to ship books

• Art supplies to create cards for book recipients: Crayons or colored pencils, scissors, clear packing, and tape or laminating paper (optional)

Instructions

• Sign up as an Operation Paperback volunteer. (FYI: It can take a couple of days to get confirmation from the folks at Operation Paperback.)

• Wait for your volunteer application to be approved (about x days?).

• Check troop requests to inform what kind of donations you ask for.

• Collect books.

• Package and ship books. If you are sending books only, send them via media mail, which will cost about $7 for 20 books. If you choose to add treats and small gifts, you will pay a higher rate for priority mail.

Reflection

• Can you think of a time when you were stressed or far from home? What brought you comfort in that moment?

• How do you feel when you are reading a good book?

• How do you think you would feel if someone sent you a big box of new books when you were lonely or far from home?

Resources

The Impossible Patriotism Project by Linda Skeers
Explore the big idea of patriotism and celebrate heroes with this wonderful story. You'll meet Caleb, a boy stumped by an impossible assignment: make something showing patriotism. The big, bold ideas of his classmates only make Caleb feel worse. How can he show them that patriotism is more than maps and statues? His final project is stunning in its simplicity and power. You may even be inspired to visit our project instructions and write thank you letters to soldiers and their families.

Take it further

• Make Operation Paperback a monthly family service project.

• Write Letters to Soldiers.

Browse the projects in our Big-Hearted Families Tookit!

Disclaimer:  Doing Good Together™ is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

The recommendations we offer are based solely on our mission to empower parents to raise children who care and contribute.

Assemble Literacy Kits

Donate literacy kits to feed hungry minds.

Assemble literacy kits to ensure school-age children are set up for academic success.

Potential Recipients

Connect with a local organization that supports literacy, works with immigrants and refugees, or works with unhoused families. Lots of organizations are excited to receive a donation of literacy kits!

Before your start, reach out and ask what their needs are. Your organization may add to the list of essential items below.

What you’ll need

• Stationery

• Pens, crayons, or markers

• Gallon-sized resealable plastic bags or small canvas bags you can decorate.

• Permanent markers or fabric markers to decorate your choice of bag.

• Essentials

Essential Items You Might Include in Each Kit

• Composition notebook, with or without drawing space

• Pencils

• Erasers

• New or gently used book

• Alphabet stickers

• Colored pencils

• Big-Hearted Bookmarks

• DIY Kindness Journals

Instructions

• Create cheerful cards of encouragement for each kit.

• Fill each decorated plastic or fabric bag with the items you’ve gathered.

• Drop off your donations together.

Reflect Together

• What do you love most about reading?

• Can you name a favorite book or two? A favorite character or two?

• How could you persuade someone who doesn't love to read to try your favorite book?

• Do you like to visit the public library?

• Do you think it's important to make books available, for free, to everyone? Why or why not?

Resources

A Velocity of Being: Letters to a Young Reader edited by Maria Papova and Claudia Bedrick
Perfect for book lovers ages 10 and up, this collection of deliciously inspiring essays features writers from Neil Gaiman and Jane Goodall to Rebecca Solnit and Regina Specktor.

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore by William Joyce
This whimsical, reality-bending book is full of food for thought. It even inspired an Academy Award-winning short film.

Take it further

• Add kits to a Little Free Library.

• Host a book drive and assemble literacy kits to include with your book donations.

Browse the projects in our Big-Hearted Families Tookit!

Disclaimer:  Doing Good Together™ is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

The recommendations we offer are based solely on our mission to empower parents to raise children who care and contribute.

Create a DIY Kindness Journal

Invite creative reflection about big ideas.

Keeping a compassion-themed journal is a wonderful way to build kindness into busy weeks and shine a spotlight on acts of kindness. Plus, you'll have a place to record family volunteering memories.

Possible Recipients

Keeping a family journal will result in a one-of-a-kind keepsake. These journals also make thoughtful gifts for anyone needing some encouragement.

What You'll Need

Decorate a composition notebook with duct tape. Scatter compassion-themed prompts and quotes throughout it. Then make time periodically to discuss, draw, and write about those kindness prompts as a family.

• Printed copies of our Family Service Memory reflection sheets

• Composition notebook

• Duct tape in fun colors

• Stickers

• Colored pencils, crayons, or markers

• Glue stick

Create Your Journal

Click here for one of two templates!

• Decorate the cover with duct tape, stickers, and markers.

• Choose your favorite prompts and quotes below. Using your colored pencils, crayons, or markers, artfully add a prompt or quote every few pages throughout your notebook.

• Print several of our Family Service Memory sheets. Keep them at the back of your journal to use when you complete a service project or act of kindness. After you fill out your worksheet, glue it into your journal.

Write in Your Journal

• Schedule time each week to create a journal entry.

• Set a timer for five minutes. Invite each family member to write or draw as much as they can in that time. Follow your ideas wherever they go. After the timer goes off, discuss your ideas.

• Here are some options for recording your ideas:

  • Take turns being the person to record the main ideas from a family conversation about your prompt.

  • Invite each family member to draw or write about your prompt in your journal. Then take time to discuss those ideas.

  • When you serve together, record your reflections using a Family Service Memory sheet and glue the sheet into your journal.

Kindness-Themed Journal Prompts

Make Lists:

• Who did you help today? Who helped you?

• What are you grateful for?

• What moments of this day brought you a feeling of peace or joy?

• Who would enjoy receiving a handmade card or handwritten note? Consider choosing people you know personally and/or those you have heard about in the news. Discuss your choices.

• Make a list of characteristics a good leader should have. Make a list of the characteristics a good citizen should have. How are these lists the same? How are they different?

• Make a shortlist of things you, as a family, would like to change about your community, state, or country. Then discuss what action you could take to begin working toward some of those changes.

• Make a list of things that are important about you and each of your family members that others would know just by looking. Make a list of things that are important about you and each of your family members that others would not know just by looking. Which list is longer? Which list feels more important? What does this teach us about other people?

• Who do you know (friend, neighbor, relative, classmate, anyone!) who may be struggling with loneliness, illness, or grief? Make a list of simple things you could do to help that person.

• Notice five complimentary things about your family members (or teacher or classmate, etc.).

• What causes or issues are most important to you? How can you support those causes?

• What emotions have you experienced in the past twenty-four hours?

Ask Big-Questions

• Why do you think it's important to spend some of our time giving back to the community?

• How do you think people feel when you do something kind for them? How do you feel when you've done something kind?

• Why do you think it’s important that friends, teachers, neighbors, coworkers, and students help each other throughout the day?

• What does it mean to have courage? Have you ever had to be brave?

• If you could change one thing in the world, what would you change?

• If we live in a free country, can we do whatever we want, whenever we want?

• What does it mean to live in a community with others? What rules (laws) does a society need to run smoothly?

• Talk about the distinction between courage and recklessness. Give examples of each. Emphasize the need for difficult decisions to be well-considered and the importance of acting on our values rather than our impulses.

• Together, imagine arriving in a new country without knowing the language or customs. What would it be like to have to leave home quickly and suddenly? What would you miss? How would you feel?

Ask Personal Questions

• What would life be like if (someone specific, a friend in the carpool, a neighbor, a story from school) didn’t help you out today?

• How do you make yourself feel better when you feel frustrated or angry at school? What about bored or tired? Excited?

• If you won a grand prize of $1,000, how would you spend it?

• If you won $1,000 and could not spend it on yourself or your family, how would you spend it?

• Describe a moment when you felt proud.

• Describe a moment you regret what you did or wish you had acted differently.

• What should we do if we notice something that is unfair at school or in our community?

• How does it make you feel to get a compliment? To give a compliment?

• Talk about how making certain choices might result in the loss of popularity and how to navigate that with courage.

Tell Stories

• If you could have one superpower, what would you choose? Write a brief story about how you use your power to help someone.

• An older student starts making fun of your friend's new shoes. What do you do or say? What would you be afraid of? What happens next?

• Write a story, poem, or comic about a child who finds a lost or hurt pet.

• Create a biography about a kid who invents a tool to save the rainforest, end homelessness, cure an illness, or eliminate loneliness.

• Write about a disagreement you were involved in recently, but write it from the perspective of the other person.

Find More Prompts:

• Choose your favorite questions from our blog post 29 Big-Hearted Questions for More Meaningful Family Conversations. Some - but not all - have been featured here.

• Choose your favorite quotes from the images on the right or from our Inspiration Pinterest Board. For five or ten minutes write or draw about what these quotes mean to you.

Browse the projects in our Big-Hearted Families Tookit!

Disclaimer:  Doing Good Together™ is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

The recommendations we offer are based solely on our mission to empower parents to raise children who care and contribute.

Share Bookmark Kindness

Spread cheer and great reads.

Use our printable template, or design your own bookmarks. Then add your favorite big-hearted book recommendation to the back, and start ripples of bookish kindness. 

Potential Recipients

• Share bookmarks with patients in a nearby hospital, residents of a local nursing home, or anyone who could use some cheer.

• Include bookmarks with a community book drive.

• Give them as gifts to friends, teachers, neighbors. Or leave them (and perhaps a copy of your recommended book) in a Little Free Library.

What you’ll need

• Print one of DGT’s bookmark templates: Explore a Story, Pass it On or blank.

• Art supplies: Crayons or colored pencils, scissors, clear packing, and tape or laminating paper

Click here for the Blank Bookmarks!

Click here for the Explore a Story printable!

Cliquea aquí para imprimir en español.

Instructions

• Read any of the titles in our Read with Empathy collection.

• Decorate your bookmarks with colors, colored pencils, or markers.

• Cut around the outside of the bookmarks.

• On the back, recommend your favorite perspective-expanding book or leave a cheerful note.

• Seal with packing tape or laminate. (Optional)

• Hide your decorated bookmarks (and perhaps your recommended book) in a Little Free Library, stash them in library books, or gift them to others!

Reflection

• Why did you recommend your chosen book?

• Why is it fun to read books about characters and experiences different from your own?

• People talk about kindness having a “ripple effect.” What do you think that means? Let’s imagine the ripple effect our bookmarks might have.

Resources

Browse the lists in Doing Good Together’s Read with Empathy collection for your next picture book favorite!

Take it further

• Restock a Little Free Library.

• Leave encouraging sticky notes - along with bookmarks - in your favorite library books.

• Donate favorite books to a shelter or children’s hospital.

• Host a book drive for a shelter or organization in need.

• Volunteer to read to seniors at a nearby nursing home.

Browse the projects in our Big-Hearted Families Tookit!

Disclaimer:  Doing Good Together™ is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

The recommendations we offer are based solely on our mission to empower parents to raise children who care and contribute.

Explore Nature with a DGT Guidebook

Visit the DGT Family Library to print this membership exclusive.

Members of the DGT Family, get outside with this exclusive download!

This members-only toolkit includes

• Conversation Cards: designed to enrich a family conversation about The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry

• My Nature Journal: a one-of-a-kind collection of 17 activities including creative writing, drawing, and mindfulness prompts.

• Heal the Earth: a 12-Week Kindness Challenge designed to help you make a difference week by week.

Visit the DGT Family Library to download this membership exclusive.

Disclaimer:  Doing Good Together™ is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

The recommendations we offer are based solely on our mission to empower parents to raise children who care and contribute.