Go WILD With These Random Acts of Kindness Ideas!

Random Acts of Kindness Sponsored by Stonyfield Yogurt

This December my kids and I had a chance to take part in something really cool.  Not necessarily something we couldn't be doing on our own year round, but it's not every day that you dedicate an evening to giving $50 worth of cash away to complete strangers. As a member of Stonyfield Yogurt's Blogger Team, myself and many other bloggers were provided a $50 Visa Gift Card with very basic instructions.  Use this $50 to Pay It Forward however you choose. As a mother of three, every year for years my husband and I concoct grand plans and set goals for showing our kids the true meaning of Christmas, teaching them to give back, showing them just how fortunate they are and how thankful they should be, hoping to instill a desire to be kind, compassionate and thoughtful every where they go.  The problem is that we're HUGE over thinkers and many of the ideas became so complex and overwhelming to attempt with three small children that we end up following through with none of them and setting our sights on the following year. With the help of Stonyfield this year we were able to prove to ourselves and our kids that being kind, paying it forward and performing random acts of kindness does not have to be complicated, expensive or time consuming.  Do you want to know how we spent our FIFTY DOLLARS?  Read below for our Random Acts of Kindness ideas and let us know what you think!

Step 1

Cash in our Visa Gift Card for SIX $5 bills and TWENTY $1 bills.

Step 2

Have the kids hand write six holiday cards for complete strangers and put a $5 bill in each one.

Step 3

Grab our stack of cards, a roll of scotch tape and our $1 bills and head out on our random acts of kindness mission.

Step 4

Give, give, give! Before really setting out to accomplish what I hoped we could I had a discussion with the kids about giving anonymously, randomly and respectfully.  I had visions of them placing a $1 on a toy and then standing there staring at the person as they discovered it making the entire situation awkward.  I explained that we're being stealth like and they really got into the concept of us being on a secret mission. Dollar Tree-  Our first stop was the Dollar Store where we found a car with open window and placed one of our holiday cards on the passenger seat.  Once inside the store the kids had so much fun sneakily taping dollar bills throughout the store and even got the chance to witness, from afar, a boy about their age, finding a toy with one of their dollar bills attached and promptly taking it to the register to make his purchase. Car Wash-  Next we stopped by the local car wash where we taped $2 so the next person's car wash would be paid for and visited the coin change machine where we put a dollar in and left the quarters for the next person to find. Wal Mart-  My kids picked out another random vehicle to place a $5 holiday card on the windshield of and then our next stop was Wal Mart where we decided that taping a card to the inside of a bathroom stall would be clever and a fun way to surprise someone so between the three of them we used another three of our cards with $5 inside each.  We also visited the toy aisle where my sons selected a Nerf gun that surely someone would want and taped our last card there. We taped a few bills throughout the remainder of the store including a package of disposable diapers because surely someone would be having a hard time affording both diapers and presents this holiday season. Target-  Last but not least, I played coupon fairy and taped a few Stonyfield Organic Smooth & Creamy Coupons to some yogurt when no one was looking and the following day gave the last $5 to a older woman I met at Target who mentioned she was headed to Starbucks and had forgotten her coffee rewards card.

Lessons Learned

Our mission proved to be a huge success and I can't thank Stonyfield Yogurt enough for coming up with this amazing idea for their Ambassadors.  I was honored to be able to take part and look forward to continuing to pay-it-forward with random acts of kindness throughout the year followed by our new random acts of kindness mission every holiday season. We proved to ourselves and our kids that kindness, giving and compassion don't have to be over-the-top complex or costly.  My kids did remark a few times that we can't give the money to someone rich and many valuable teaching opportunities came up as a result.  It's not about giving only to those who need the money, it's about inspiring kindness in others and making someone smile. What if that “rich person” receives your card and is so inspired that they turn around and donate $500 to charity, pay for someone else's gas or dinner?  It's the thought that counts, the spark you ignite, the chain reaction of giving and kindness you might set in motion. With that we ended our night of giving on Stonyfield's behalf.  We hope our simple ideas inspire you.  Whether it's a couple quarters at the car wash or $5 inside a holiday card, giving is easy, rewarding and should be something we all strive to do on a more regular basis.  What other simple RAK ideas can you list that are super easy that anyone can do?  Have you ever taken your kids out to do anything like this or have you ever been the recipient of a RAK?