Looking for a simple way to encourage kindness with your kids? This Kindness Hearts Garland craft is a frugal activity that’s perfect for home, classrooms, and more.
Using the free printable heart template, kids color, cut, and decorate hearts with kind words like kind, loving, helpful, and strong. Then, they glue the hearts together to create a cheerful garland or turn them into a mini kindness book.
It’s low-prep, easy to customize, and delightful for different ages. Such a wonderful way to create a special decoration featuring kindness and connection!
Why Kindness Activities Matter for Kids
Kindness is one of those skills that grows with practice. Kids learn it through everyday experiences, conversations, and simple activities.
Hands-on kindness activities give kids a chance to slow down and think about positive traits like being helpful, patient, and caring. When children see these words, say them out loud, and connect them to their own actions, those ideas start to stick.
Creative projects like this Kindness Hearts Garland also create natural opportunities for connection. As kids color and decorate their hearts, you can talk about what kindness looks like at home, with siblings, with friends, and toward themselves. These moments don’t have to be deep or serious. In fact, sometimes the best conversations happen when hands are busy and pressure is low.
Best of all, kindness crafts help kids feel good about who they are. Celebrating positive traits reminds them that kindness is something they already have inside them and something they can keep growing every day.
A Simple Kindness Craft Inspired by Our Homeschool Journey
When we started homeschooling, I wanted to be intentional about encouraging my boys to be kind. I want to help them be more aware of how they treated each other, our family, and friends. I looked for simple hands-on ways to support positive thinking and meaningful conversations.
We enjoyed doing random acts of kindness activities which became some of our favorite moments together. Those experiences showed me that kindness can be practiced in small and creative ways.
This Kindness Hearts Garland craft is inspired by those early homeschool days. It’s the kind of project that helps kids express positive traits, reflect on what kindness looks like, and celebrate the good in themselves and others.
What Is the Kindness Hearts Garland Craft? And Supplies You’ll Need
The Kindness Hearts Garland is a hands-on craft that helps kids explore positive traits in a fun way. Using paper hearts, children color, cut, and decorate each heart with kind words or phrases like kind, loving, helpful, strong, and creative.
Once the hearts are finished, you put them together to enjoy. You can glue them together edge-to-edge to create a garland. Or you can attach to string, ribbon, or yarn to be displayed around your home, homeschool space, or classroom. Oh, and you can also use the hearts to make a mini kindness book!
It works well as a standalone activity or as part of a larger kindness or social-emotional learning theme.
Supplies Needed: You only need a few basic materials to get started, most of which you likely already have on hand:
- Optional: Heart template (free printable using this instant download) OR draw and cut out your own hearts
- White paper or cardstock
- Crayons, markers, or colored pencils
- Scissors
- Glue or glue stick
That’s it! Print the template, grab your supplies, and go create something meaningful together.
How to Make a Kindness Hearts Garland (Step-by-Step)
Print, color, and cut out the paper hearts.
Print the heart template on white paper or cardstock. Make as many copies as you’d like (maybe 2–3 sheets), depending on how long you want your garland to be. Let kids color each heart using crayons, markers, or colored pencils. Carefully cut out each heart along the outline.
Write kind words and glue hearts together.
On each heart, write a kind word or phrase such as kind, loving, helpful, strong, smart, or creative. Kids can also add smiley faces or little doodles. Arrange the hearts in a line. Slightly overlap the sides of each heart and glue them together edge-to-edge to form a garland.
Ideas for Kind Words to Use on the Hearts
One of the super cool parts of this craft is choosing the kind words to write on each heart. Kids can pick words that describe themselves, someone they love, or the kind of person they want to be. There’s no right or wrong because it’s all about encouragement and positive thinking.
Here are some kid-friendly ideas to get started:
Kind Words About Character:
- Kind
- Loving
- Helpful
- Gentle
- Caring
- Patient
- Brave
- Honest
Positive Traits Kids Can Relate To:
- Smart
- Creative
- Strong
- Funny
- Sweet
- Thoughtful
- Curious
Friendship and Family-Focused Words:
- Good friend
- Team player
- Good listener
- Helpful helper
- Big heart
Simple Phrases:
- I am kind
- I try my best
- I can help others
- I am learning
- I am loved
You can also invite kids to come up with their own words or phrases. Sometimes the most meaningful hearts are the ones that reflect their own thoughts, drawings, or little doodles alongside the words.
Creative Ways to Display or Use Your Kindness Hearts
Once the hearts are finished, there are lots of fun and meaningful ways to use them. I encourage you to make this craftivity your own.
- Make a Kindness Hearts Garland: Glue the hearts together edge-to-edge to create a garland. Hang it across a wall, doorway, shelf, or bulletin board as a sweet reminder of kind words and positive traits.
- Create a Mini Kindness Book: Instead of a garland, stack the hearts and staple or hole punch them to make a small book. Kids can flip through their kindness words anytime, making this a great quiet-time or reflection activity.
- Display on a Kindness Wall: Tape or tack the hearts onto a wall, corkboard, or poster board. This option works especially well in classrooms or homeschool spaces. Plus, you can build it over time as kids add more hearts.
- Use Them as Daily Kindness Prompts: Pull one heart each day and talk about how to practice that word in real life. For example, if the heart says helpful, brainstorm simple ways to help at home or with friends.
- Share the Hearts with Others: Kids can give hearts to siblings, friends, grandparents, or neighbors as little notes of encouragement.
A Fun Way to Practice Kindness Together
Kindness doesn’t have to be complicated. Sometimes, it starts with a few paper hearts, some kind words, and a little time together. This Kindness Hearts Garland craft is a special way to slow down, connect, and encourage positive thinking – one heart at a time.
Grab this free template, gather your supplies, and enjoy creating something meaningful with your kids. What kind words and phrases would you add to this list? And how will you use this craft? I’d love to hear all about it!
