Random Act of Kid-ness: There’s a Monkey in My Chair
This week’s Random Act of Kid-ness comes to us from Cincinnati, OH, where a group of kids from Piner Elementary School started a program to raise money for children with cancer. Since many of the kids know people who have cancer or who have lost their lives to cancer, they wanted to help out. They started with a program called Change Wars, where the students brought in change to raise money, and then they started selling hair bows. That fundraiser earned over $300 for children living with cancer.
There’s a Monkey in My Chair is a program that the students developed. Stuffed monkeys sit in their classrooms to represent kids who are in the hospital. “It reminds you that friend with cancer needs support, in school or outside it. ‘Having the monkey there, the kids can interact with the monkey, they can write letters to the monkey, and take pictures of the monkey doing silly stuff, in the room or where the children normally would be in. It makes the children think they are still there and that they care about them.’”
Some of the students at Piner Elementary have said:
“I feel really proud. I love helping people and I couldn’t find a way to until Koryn did, and that’s why I really wanted to do it.”
”I think if they pictured themselves and they wouldn’t want someone to not help them.”
”I feel proud that we helped them.” The teachers and staff here do too.
What a thoughtful program! We love this idea. To read more about There’s a Monkey in My Chair, click here.
Random Act of Kid-ness: Sleeping in Cold to Raise Money for Homeless
This week’s Random Act of Kid-ness comes to us from Dayton, IN, where 23 kids slept in cardboard boxes outdoors to raise money for the homeless. The kids are part of the Overhaul Youth Group from Dayton United Methodist Church, and they got sponsors to help them raise enough money- over $1400- to fill a food truck for the local homeless population. Their youth pastor Austin Bender said:
“A lot of them said they were just thankful for so many little things, like a bed or warmth.”
Because of this, the kids were even more determined to raise money because they realized how much they take for granted that homeless people live without.
To read more about this story, click here. As always, if you have suggestions for our next RAK, let us know!
Random Act of Kid-ness: Mourning with Boston
(Credit: Facebook/America Loves Iraq)
This week’s Random Act of Kid-ness comes to us all the way from Iraq, where 2 young boys posed for a picture with a sign that says “We Mourn with Boston.” The two boys understand what it is like to experience the aftermath of a terror attack and they sympathize with the pain Americans are going through after the Boston Marathon attacks earlier this week. On the same day as the Boston tragedy alone, at least 33 people were killed and more than 160 were injured after bombings struck various Iraqi cities. Blogger Kevin Gosztola says:
”We are all citizens of the world, and our pain can bring us together.”
We are inspired by the kindness of these 2 young boys, and our sympathy goes out to everyone affected by the tragedies in Boston and throughout the world this week and always.
Random Act of Kid-ness: Recycling Old Markers
This week’s Random Act of Kid-ness comes to us from San Rafael, CA, where students in Mr. Land’s class at Sun Valley School decided to take action so that the markers they use every day don’t end up in landfills. They decided to contact Crayola and let the company know that discarded plastics, like those found in Crayola markers, is wasteful and unhealthy for the environment. The students are proposing a take-back program so the markers get re-purposed instead of becoming pollution. Some of the Sun Valley students said:
“I love your markers, but I’d like to tell you it’s polluting. So can I please send some of your markers back? I love your product, but hate pollution,” Zachary, age 9.
“I want to let you know that I am not a useless little kid. I can make a difference! By telling you to recycle your pens,” Dante, age 10.
”Will we ever be able to fix the hole in the ozone layer? I don’t like pollution because it hurts the Earth,” Georgia, age 7.
“If we all came from the Earth… Then why are we hurting it so much? Earth is all we have left,” Olivia, age 11.
The students started a petition on change.org here, and you can watch a slide show about this petition here.
We think this kind of action is great! We hope you get all the signatures you need and help save the environment!
Random Act of Kid-ness: Kindness Balloons
Maija Hoggett photo
This week’s Random Act of Kid-ness comes to us from Ontario, Canada, where students from Baxter Central Public School performed random acts of kindness by releasing balloons into the air. Students attached a note to each balloon with a suggested random act of kindness for whoever finds the balloon to carry out. Some examples of random acts that students wrote down were: holding doors for people, saying hi to strangers to brighten their day, and leaving $20 at a coffee shop register so people can have free coffee until it runs out. Grade 8 student Felicity Darcy said:
“The guerilla kindness really worked for us and left a good impact on the school.”
We think this is an exciting way to spread kindness! Check out the rest of this article to read more great quotes from the students.
Random Act of Kid-ness: Helping Homeless on Way to Chemotherapy
This week’s Random Act of Kid-ness comes to us from Philadelphia, PA where first grader Ella Wilson brings food and blankets to the homeless people in her city every Thursday on her way to chemotherapy. Ella is getting treatment for neurofibromatosis, a genetic disorder that causes tumors to grow on the nerves. But to take her mind off her year-long treatment, she has decided to focus on making other people happy.
You can watch an inspiring video about Ella’s story and learn how you can help her raise money for neurofibromatosis research on her Facebook page here.
As always, we ask for your suggestions for our next RAK. Do you know someone who is doing random acts of kindness? Let us know!
Random Act of Kid-ness: SPPRAK
This week’s Random Act of Kid-ness comes to us from Terre Haute, IN, where students at Dixie Bee Elementary School participated in a new program yesterday by SPPRAK. SPPRAK is short for Special People Performing Random Acts of Kindness and is a nonprofit that helps improve its community by supporting groups that need extra funding.
The program at Dixie Bee lets students leave sticky notes on a large banner in the school’s front hallway that note random acts of kindness that their peers had done. These random acts of kindness have included holding the door for someone, helping draw a picture, and sharing lunches. “In just a few seconds, Dixie Bee students had posted about two-dozen “random acts of kindness” on the banner, which is in the school’s front hallway.”
We think this is a great, visible way to get all students involved in spreading and sharing random acts of kindness!
To read more about this story and SPPRAK, click here.
Random Act of Kid-ness: Legos for Leukemia
This week’s Random Act of Kid-ness comes to us from Louisville, KY where 8 year old Aiden Johnson and his family are in charge of their local chapter of Legos for Leukemia. The organization was started in 2009 by Christian Flanders in Denver, CO to honor the memory of his father, and “as a way to give kids fighting cancer and other life threatening diseases a fun and creative way to deal with not so fun days that include chemotherapy and bone marrow transplants.” Legos take chemotherapy off the minds of children with Leukemia, like Aiden, who calls himself a Lego Master. Aiden’s mom says:
“It has taken his mind off the fact that he has cancer. It really has made a difference in the way treatments go. The long days and the long nights, we come in and we’re prepared. We have Legos and we’re ready to be here for a week.”
Because Aiden loves Legos so much and wants other children with cancer to experience the same joy he does, he and his family decided to head the Legos for Leukemia chapter at Kosair Children’s Hospital. People can donate new unopened Lego sets at drop off locations all over the area. So far, Aiden’s family has collected 50 Lego sets, but they still need many more.
We think this is such a great cause and are inspired by Aiden’s kindness. To read more about this story and to find out how to donate Legos, click here.
Random Act of Kid-ness: Reminding Veterans to Ask for Help
This week’s Random Act of Kid-ness comes to us from Alabama, where 7 year old John Murray, Jr. has tried to convince suicidal veterans to ask for help. When he saw the word “suicide” on a poster in a local Army health center, he asked his mom what the word meant. When he found out what suicide meant, John wanted to work to prevent it. He wrote “Ask for help!!!!!” on post-it notes throughout the Fox Army Health Center so that the veterans would remember that people care about them. John said:
“When they don’t have any broken arms or legs, and no blood. You can’t see the sadness inside them, but they still need help. [...] I wrote a reminder for Army people to ask for help and did five exclamation points because it is real important. My teacher, Ms. Hardiman, said an exclamation point is like yelling a sentence. I put five exclamation points so it would be really loud. Maybe the Army person who is hurt just forgot to ask for help. This will help remind them.”
One veteran commits suicide every 65 minutes, so what John is doing is incredibly important. Great job, John!
To read more about this story and find out how to help or get help, click here.
Random Act of Kid-ness: Giving the Gift of Play to Children with Special Needs
This week’s Random Act of Kid-ness comes to us from Fairfield, OH where 10 year old Ashton Isler decided to forego birthday presents this year. Instead, he asked his party guests to donate money to the Joe Nuxhall Miracle League, which is a baseball league for children and adults with special needs. Baseball is Ashton’s favorite sport, and when he heard about the Miracle League project while watching a Reds game last summer, he wanted more people to be able to enjoy it as much as he does. He said:
“I didn’t really need anything else. I want to do it again (this year) [...] I am so happy that other children with challenges can play this game too.”
In response to Ashton’s efforts, Fairfield Mayor Ron D’Epifanio proclaimed Tuesday Ashton Isler Day and made him honorary mayor for the day. Kim Nuxhall of the Miracle League presented Ashton with a character education poster signed by former Reds Sean Casey and a certificate from the Reds good for tickets for an April game.
What a wonderful way to give back! To read more about this great story, click here.
Open Door Days at the Zimmer
While all children and families are always welcome at the Zimmer, the museum opens on special days exclusively for families with children with special needs. At the Zimmer, we are committed to making quality play and learning experiences available to all children. While the Zimmer works diligently to provide inclusive programs every day, our Open Door Days combine special considerations regarding cost and ‘busy-ness’ of the museum with an understanding community. Our hope is that visiting the museum is enjoyable for all families, and Open Door Days serves as another option so that all families in the city may play and learn together at the Zimmer.
To learn more about our Open Door Days and make your free reservation for the next one on February 18, click here.
Open Door Days are generously sponsored by CVS Caremark.
