Reading · Grade 1–2 to Grade 5–6
Kindness cards for the street
Three cards your child made for real people nearby, and gave with you.
Your child chooses three people with you, makes each a card with a picture and a kind sentence, and gives them by hand. At 5–6 each card says why it is for that person.
- Grade 1–2 to Grade 5–6
- 40 min
- A printout
- On the screen
Free to sign up.
Is it a good fit?
- Ready if Your child can write a short sentence with help.
- Too much today? The 1–2 level: a picture and one kind sentence in each card.
- Too easy? The 5–6 level: five people listed with reasons, three chosen.
What your child practises
- Writing for a reader
- Thinking about someone else
- Speaking to a neighbour
“She smiled when I gave it to her.”
If your child says something like this, in their own words, the idea has landed. Finishing the rounds means they took part; this is the learning.
Your part
- Find three sheets of card and three envelopes
- Choose the three people together, ones you know or at a shop
- Go with your child to give every card
What you need
From home
- Three sheets of card or thick paper
- Felt pens or crayons
- A pencil and a sheet of paper
- Three envelopes
The steps
Grade 1–2
With a grown-up, choose three real people near you to make a card for: a neighbour, someone at the shop, the person who brings the post.
With a grown-up, choose three real people near you to make a card for: a neighbour, someone at the shop, the person who brings the post.The other 5 steps, each with its painting, are in the Family portal.
It must pass: Each card is for a real person, and you deliver it with a grown-up.
Grade 3–4
- With a grown-up, choose three real people near you to make a card for: a neighbour, someone at the shop, the person who brings the post.
The other 5 steps, each with its painting, are in the Family portal.
It must pass: Each card is for a real person, and you deliver it with a grown-up.
Grade 5–6
- With a grown-up, list five people a card could help, and why, on the paper. Then choose three.
With a grown-up, list five people a card could help, and why, on the paper. Then choose three.The other 5 steps, each with its painting, are in the Family portal.
It must pass: Each card says why it is for that person, and you deliver all three with a grown-up.
Safety
Every card is delivered with you, to people you know or at a shop counter with you there. Your child signs with their first name only: no surname, no address and no phone number on any card.
Where the facts come from
More like this
The full design
What it is
Three folded cards, each with a picture on the front and a kind sentence inside, made for three real people nearby and delivered by hand with you: a neighbour, someone at the shop, the person who brings the post. The screen gathers the things, shows one step at a time as a painting of that step, and asks at the end. The cards, and the moment they are given, are the make.
How it goes
One step fills the screen: the painted plate of that step, the words under it, and two buttons. Done this step moves on. Too hard, skip it also moves on, and the finish says how many were skipped without dressing it up. At the end, Show asks what is true (each one is for a real person, someone smiled), and What I learned asks the band's question.
The Pet
Asks at each step: "One kind sentence inside. Your first name at the end." Notices: "Delivered. Someone's day just got better." Remembers across the two sittings. It never promises how anyone will react, and it never asks who the people are.
By band
1 to 2: you choose the three people together; your child draws a picture and writes one kind sentence in each, with help spelling. 3 to 4: your child thinks about what would help each person's day and writes that. 5 to 6: they list five people a card could help, with a reason for each, and choose three; each card says why it is for that person.
What it grows
A meta-analysis of service-learning found gains in attitudes, social skills and school performance, though few of the studies were with children this young, so this page claims no more than that. Making something for a real person outside the family is what project frameworks call an authentic, public product.
Done, and what counts as evidence
Done = the steps done or honestly skipped, and one line chosen at the end. The evidence is the cards, written for a real reader, and at 5 to 6 the reasons your child gave for each person. Giving them is the point; how the person reacted is not marked.
What's personal
Who the cards were for is never typed or stored: the screen asks only what your child chose about the cards. Their answers are stored as their answer, not as a mark. A material you do not have is named once, a substitute is offered, and the make carries on.